I'm Here to Help
by himymfan12
Summary: When Ted informs the group of his wife's illness, Barney and Robin begin to realize whats important in life and attempt to become present in each others lives again. Only then do they realize what they had given up years ago.
1. Chapter 1

BEEP BEEP BEEP

BEEP BEEP BEEP

The alarm rang on the bedside table as Robin aroused from her sleep. It was Saturday morning and normally she would take the opportunity to sleep in but there was just too much she needed to do. It was the first time in almost a year that she was going to get together with her old group of friends. She was nervous and excited but most of all worried that there would be a lingering awkwardness. Since her and Barney's divorce, Robin hadn't been all to present in the lives of her friends. She showed up for the big moments, but only the ones she could handle. The last big moment that Robin had attended had been Ted's wedding , and now he was planning this get together with everyone because he had some news. She didn't know whether it was good news or bad news, but she did know that either way she needed to be there for her friend if that's what he wanted.

Even though she was sure she needed to do this for Ted, Robin was a little worried about seeing Barney. She never really felt quite comfortable around him since he had become a father. It just reminded her of the one thing he would never have been if he stayed with her. His daughter was 4 by now and Robin still hadn't met her. She would never admit it but she had avoided occasions that she knew Ellie would be present for. She was happy for Barney and even proud that he was able to become such a nurturing parent, but she didn't want to be reminded of the fact that she couldn't provide that for him. Still, Robin owed it to her friends to be there for them, so she would have to tough it out.

When she had spoken to Ted on the phone he didn't say much but that he had important news to share and it was very important to him that Robin, Barney, Marshall and Lily all be there. They were all planning to meet for lunch at there old spot in Manhattan, which of course was MacLaren's Pub. This wouldn't be a long commute for Robin, since she currently lived in Manhattan. Over the past few years her job at World Wide News had her traveling the world but she recently decided to take an anchoring job and stay in the city. Marshall and Lily had a house on Long Island, Ted lived in Westchester and to be honest Robin wasn't all to sure where Barney lived now. Probably still in his fortress of Barnitude. He had refused to give up his place when they were married so she assumed that hadn't changed.

Robin wanted to look good for her day with the gang. She wanted to show them that she was perfectly capable of living a fulfilling life without them in it 24/7. It was kind of unnecessary but she was always one for trying to win the break-up. Even if it wasn't an actual break-up. She put on some light make-up and a flowery sun dress. She took her shih tzu on a walk and ran to the market to pick up some things before she caught a cab to take her to the bar. Once she pulled up she immediately saw Ted waiting outside, and just with one simple glance, she could tell something was wrong.

"Oh no," was all that came to her mind.


	2. Chapter 2

Ch. 2

Robin exited the cab and ran over to embrace Ted.

"What's wrong? Is everything okay?"

"I'll tell you once everyone else gets here. Its not something I really want to talk about more than I need to." Robin could hear the pain in his voice and knew she made the right decision by going there today. Her best friend clearly needed her.

Once Marshall, Lily and Barney showed up and said there hello's, the gang went to there usual booth. Somehow Robin wound up sitting next to Barney, which she wouldn't normally mind, but he had completely ignored her when he walked through the door earlier, as if she didn't exist. She wasn't to fond of the idea of spending an afternoon with her ex-husband but at least she had the decency to say hello. Oh well, it didn't matter, because she was here for one reason and one reason only, and that was Ted.

"So are you going to tell us the news or are we going to continue to make pretend that wasn't the most awkward encounter we have ever seen." Lily was obviously responding to her and Barney. She was hoping they hadn't noticed.

"Uhm, okay so this isn't to easy to talk about. Even though we have drifted apart a little over the past couple of years, you guys are all still my best friends, so I really need to talk about this with you or else I think I may go crazy. About two weeks ago, Tracy started to not feel quite right. She was getting light headed and dizzy, and she kept complaining about headaches. We thought maybe it was because of how hot it has been but when this continued for a couple of days, we knew something wasn't right. I brought her to the doctors a week ago to get an MRI and the doctors found something. After a couple more tests and doctors visits it was confirmed that Tracy has a brain tumor. A very large one at that. The doctor told her if she is lucky she can live with it for another 2-3 months. I don't know what to do. We have two kids, how do you go about telling your 9 and 7 year old kids that there mom wont be around this time next year?"

Robin didn't know what to say. She sat starring at Ted with her mouth wide open for what seemed like a good 5 minutes, until Marshall finally broke the silence.

"Oh god man, I'm so sorry to hear that. If there is anything you need you just let us know and we will be there for you."

The rest of them murmured their condolences before Robin spoke up.

"How are you holding up Ted?

"Okay I guess. It still hasn't hit me that my wife will be gone within the next couple of months, and there is nothing I can do about it. Until then we just have to enjoy the time we have together. Maybe take a vacation and visit some relatives. Man, this is going to be tough."

At that moment Robin could tell he was about to break down, so she left her spot at the booth and pulled a chair over to sit next to Ted on the end. It was then that Ted broke down. Robin rubbed his back and told him it was all going to be okay, and that he had the four of them to help with anything he needed. Marshall and Lily both tried to cheer him up by agreeing with Robin and telling Ted they were there for him. But Robin could not help but notice that Barney had not said a word since Ted had told them the news.

Robin glanced over at Barney only to see his eyes downcast and him swirling his drink around in his cup. Why wasn't he trying to make Ted feel better? Whenever they got bad news Barney was always the one cracking jokes to try to make everyone feel better, but now he was silent.

After a couple more hours of catching up and chatting, Lily and Marshall decided to get back home. Ted left not much later to go home to his wife and kids and soon just Robin and Barney were left in the booth.

"What the fuck was that about?" Robin yelled to Barney.

"What was what about?"

"Ted needed us and you just sat here and said absolutely nothing to him. Don't you think he would have liked to hear some condolences or possibly even a ' I'm here for you bro' kind of thing?"

"Well what do you want me to tell you? I'm sorry for not saying I'm sorry? Listen, I don't need to hear this from you right now." And with that Barney got up and left the bar and Robin sat there alone wondering when her life turned to shit.


	3. Chapter 3

Ch. 3

*Please leave a message after the beep*

"Hey Ted, its Robin. I was just calling to let you know that I'll be able to make it to dinner tomorrow night. If there is anything that you want me to bring just let me know. Okay, I guess I'll be at your place tomorrow at 6:00. See you then."

It had been two weeks since Ted had told the gang the news about Tracey and Marshall, Lily and herself thought it would be a good idea to spend as much time with Tracey before, well you know. She had spoken to Ted and he had agreed with them, so he decided to have a little get together at his house, just to catch up. Barney of course had been invited but to Robin's knowledge he had not responded, so she didn't know if he would be there. Something weird had been going on with him the past couple weeks. He avoided conversation with all of his friends and rarely showed his face. Robin knew that she shouldn't let Barney's behavior get to her but she couldn't help it. If something was bothering she wanted to know.

*Ring Ring*

*Ring Ring*

Robin looked down at her phone and saw that it was Ted.

"Hey Ted, get my message?"

"Yes I did! I'm looking forward to seeing everyone again."

"Yeah, same here. Speaking of which, did Barney ever get back to you?"

"No, that's actually one of the reasons I'm calling you right now. You asked if you could bring anything tomorrow night. Would you mind bringing Barney?"

"What? How am I suppose to get Barney there?"

"Well I just figured you are the only one that lives in Manhattan so maybe you can just swing by his place and try to get him to come."

"Wait, so Barney still lives in Manhattan?"

"Yup, in the same apartment he's had for 20 years now."

"Wow, well I guess I can try but we haven't really been speaking much since the divorce so I don't know how convincing I will be towards him."

"Look, I'm just asking you to give it a shot. I know hes been going through some stuff but I would really like it if he were here tomorrow."

"Going through stuff? What do you mean going through stuff?"

"Oh you don't know? Its not really my place to say, just talk to Barney. I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow okay."

And with that all Robin could hear was the dial tone on the other end. What had Barney been going through? She hoped it wasn't anything serious. It was times like this that she wished her and Barney were still married. If he was going through something she wanted to be there to listen to his problems and comfort him. She still cared, maybe too much, but it didn't matter because Barney had made it very clear that he didn't need her in his life.

The next day Robin headed over to Barney's place. It brought back so many memories. She had lived there for three years with Barney, well when they weren't in some other country for her job. She knocked on Barney's door, heard some shuffling around and then Barney's voice say, "Who is it?"

"Its Robin. Barney can I come in for a second?"

The door opened and Barney stood in the doorway in a pair of blue jeans and a grey t-shirt. Barney had suited down, and there were not many times Robin had seen him suit down.

"What do you want?" Barney said with a bit of annoyance in his tone.

"I just want to talk, and possibly get you to come to Ted's with me tonight."

"Look Robin, as much as I really do want to be there for Ted, I just don't think I can. Not now any way." Barney started to shut the door on Robin but Robin pushed her way in.

"No, I am not taking no for an answer. Ted needs you, he is going through hell right now and all he wants is for his best friends to be there for him. Why can't you do that just for one night?"

"Because I can't okay? Just leave me alone."

"Barney, is something going on? I've never seen you so on edge before."

"What do you care? Its not like you ever cared before."

"How dare you say that to me. I loved you Barney, with every ounce of my being I loved and cared for you. Maybe over the past eight years we haven't been all that close but you cannot sit there and tell me that I never cared, because I really really did." Robin was screaming now and she would have continued if she didn't see a little girl peek her head out from around the corner. Robin had forgotten Barney had a daughter, and here she was.

"Daddy?"

"Oh hey princess how was your nap?"

"Who's that daddy?"

"This is an old friend of mine, Robin."

"Hi Ellie, I'm Robin." Ellie tucked her blonde head into Barney's leg, hiding her face from Robin.

"Look Robin, I need to get her some food, so I'll talk to you later okay."

Robin took that as her queue to leave. She nodded her head at Barney and started to walk out the door, but before she did, she turned on her heel and said "Barney, I don't know what's bothering you, and frankly its none of my business so you don't have to tell me, but just think about how your making Ted feel by not showing up tonight. If you were in his situation, you know he would be there for you every second you needed him." And with that, Robin walked out the door and didn't look back.


	4. Chapter 4

Ch. 4

Robin waited at the train station for her train from Manhattan to Westchester to show up. There weren't many other people so she figured she would have a nice quite ride up. Five minutes into her wait on the train platform, Robin felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to see Barney standing behind her, with a small smile on his face.

"I thought about what you said, about Ted being there for me, and I knew I needed to come. Mind if I join you?" Robin nodded her head as the train pulled up to the platform. They both headed on and sat opposite each other so they were facing each other.

"So you had a change of heart?" Robin said somewhat sarcastically to Barney. He just nodded and looked out the window.

"Your daughter, she's a real cutie."

"Thanks, takes after her old man." Barney said with a smirk on his face.

"Gee, how modest you are. Shes four now right?"

"Yup, four years old already, and you only just met her this morning."

"Yeah, I've been wanting to meet her now for awhile." Robin lied through her teeth, but what was she going to say? ' I didn't want to meet the product of you making love to some sleazy whore you met at a bar.' Yeah that would not have gone over to well.

"I'm sorry about earlier, with me flipping out on you and everything. Its just been a very stressful month for me."

"That's okay, I just don't understand why you chose to take it out on me. I haven't even seen you since last year."

"To be completely honest, I was mad at you. But now I know there is no reason to be, I talked to Ted and he told me that you don't know."

"Don't know what? What is so important that I should know but somehow it seems everybody has failed to tell me?"

"At the beginning of the month, I got some pretty bad news. My mom passed away. She was the only person who came into my life and never left it, not even for a second. And then she did, just like that she left my life without any possibility of returning, and it hurt like hell. Everybody was there for the services, Ted, Tracey, Lily, and Marshall. Everybody except you. I thought that, even after everything we had been through you would at least come to my mother's services. I was so pissed. In all that was going on, for some reason I just wanted to see you, to have you tell me everything would be okay but you weren't there, and that just killed me inside. It was like I was realizing that I not only lost my mom for good, but that I had lost you for good too, and I just couldn't deal with that. And then two weeks later Ted tells us about Tracey. I just couldn't deal with losing so many people and that's why I shut down a little bit. It felt like everything that I had once thought would be permanent in my life was being taken away from me. But I know now that you didn't know about my mothers death, so I guess I cant be mad at you for that."

"Oh my god Barney I'm so sorry, I had no clue. If I had known you know I would have been there for you in a heartbeat. I am so sorry. This must all be so tough on you."

"Robin, it has been the hardest thing I have ever had to go through in my life. My mom was everything to me, I loved her so much. And on top of that I had to tell Ellie that her grandma wasn't with us anymore but in heaven. That was the worst thing I have ever done."

"Well, you don't have to go through it alone. You have all of us here for you."

"I know, I know, and thank you. It really means a lot. You set me straight earlier saying that Ted would be there for me. That's how I knew I needed to come today. He has been there for me, he has been the best friend anyone could ask for through everything. Now I owe it to him to be there."

"You're a really good friend, you know that right?"

"I try." Barney said with a devilish grin on his face. Robin smiled back, before getting serious again.

"And you know you don't have to worry about me leaving your life permanently. We have to much history for that."

"Yeah Scherbatsky, we do."


	5. Chapter 5

Ch.5

It was about 6:15 when Barney and Robin arrived at the Mosby's house. Ted was so happy to see the two of them it was almost uncanny.

"Hey guys! I'm so glad you could make it. Come in, everyone else is in the living room. Where's Ellie, Barney? The kids were looking forward to seeing her."

"Oh I left her home with a sitter. I didn't know how late I'm going to be out and she gets cranky when she's tired."

"Oh okay, how has her mother been lately?" Ted asked as they made there way into the living room.

"I'm not really sure, we don't talk much and ever since I got full custody of Ellie I've had no reason to talk to her. I think it would just be bad if she was in mine or Ellie's life at all."

"Wait, you have full custody of Ellie? How did that happen?" Robin asked truly intrigued by how someone like Barney could ever receive or even want full custody of a little girl.

"Well her mom got herself into a bit of trouble with the law and I just thought it would be best if she didn't have any influence on Ellie's life. Plus, she had no job which meant no way to support her and I want the best for Ellie, so I filed for full custody."

"Wow, good for you." Robin said, not hiding the fact that she was impressed with what Barney had done. They had just reached the living room where Lily, Marshall, and Tracey were sitting.

"Hey, oh my god its so good to see you, its been forever." Tracey shot over to Robin and gave her the biggest hug. Robin reciprocated and didn't want to let go.

"It's so good to see you too. How have you been?"

"Well I've been better but I'm just enjoying every moment I get." Tracey then let go of Robin and went to give Barney a hug. "And how have you been Barney, making out okay?"

"Yeah, it's been a little tough but I'm getting through it."

"Good to hear. Remember if you need anything let me know." Barney just nodded his head at her in response. This was so like Tracey. She is the one with a brain tumor and she's offering her services to help someone else.

Just then, Penny ran into the room screaming 'Mommy Mommy!'

"Yes baby?"

"Can we play with the play dough, pretty please?"

"Maybe after dinner okay. We are going to be eating soon. Why don't you go say hi to Uncle Barney and Aunt Robin. They just got here."

"Hi!" Penny yelled with a big smile on her face and then ran off out of the room.

"She's just a little shy. Although she shouldn't be, she knows you guys." Ted said.

"That's okay, I'll see her later." Robin responded.

The gang continued to talk about everything going on in each others lives, which mainly consisted of the kids. Robin didn't have much to say and that's when she realized how alone she was. Her she was, sitting in a room with all of her best friends and not being able to relate to any of them. She hadn't seen them in about a year for starters, but they also all had kids and had been a part of each others lives while she had disappeared. Robin never felt so out of place in her life. Robin's thoughts were interrupted when Marshall asked her a question.

"So Robin, how has World Wide News been treating you?"

"Pretty good I guess. I got to travel the world and get paid for it so that's pretty cool."

"Yeah it is. That's super cool!" Marshall said a little to excitedly. "So where are they sending you next?"

"Well actually…" Robin didn't get to continue her thought before being cut of by Barney.

"Doesn't really matter though right? Because either way she wont be here." Robin could hear the bitterness in his voice and wondered why he was acting like this.

"No, actually I'm back in Manhattan for good. I got offered an anchoring job in the city. I figured I might as well start to settle down. Traveling is fun but I need some stability in my life."

"Good for you Robin, hopefully this means we'll be seeing you around a lot more. I miss my best friend." Lily said with some hope in her voice.

"I'm thinking that's exactly what that means. I know I have been gone for a lot of the big moments and I realized I can't miss them anymore. I need to be here with my best friends." Robin looked around at the people in the room with her and knew that she couldn't miss anymore, she was done being alone. She loved them all, and yes she even loved Barney, despite the fact that he was rolling his eyes at her. What was his deal?

"Well lets make a toast then, to old times!" Ted raised his glass and everyone else followed.

"To old times!"


	6. Chapter 6

Ch. 6

The rest of the night continued without a hitch. Everyone joked around like old times and Barney even seemed to step out of his slump a bit, he went as far as to let everyone know that his number of conquests was now a shocking 352. It was disgusting, but at least it was Barney. Although, he also mentioned he had only been with one woman since Ellie was born. One girl in four years. Maybe Barney was changing a bit.

Barney and Robin were now on the train back to Manhattan and the ride was rather quite. It was late so the train was empty but Barney and Robin were also avoiding conversation. That was until Barney broke the silence.

"So, your really in New York for good now? No more traveling?"

"No more traveling. I'm here to stay."

"Are you really though? Because for the past ten years you have been all over the world. You barely spent anytime in New York, you missed all of the big moments that happened and you lost touch with us all. I'm sorry but please don't get our hopes up if you just plan on leaving again."

"Barney, I already told you I am not leaving again. I'm here for good now. Why do you even care so much. We're divorced now and not many people make it a point to hang out with their ex wife."

"Yeah but were not like other people, we've stayed friends after a break up before, why can't we do it again."

"Well to be fair, the last time we tried to stay friends after a breakup, I went crazy trying to get you back, you tricked me into falling in love with you again and we got married. We're not to good at just being friends." This got a good laugh from Barney.

"Yeah I guess so. You know what that means right?"

"No Barney, what does that mean?"

"It means we are due for another relapse sometime soon."

"Haha very funny. That's not going to happen." Robin knew Barney was joking but she couldn't help but notice a look of disappointment in his eyes when Robin said no. Robin's thoughts were interrupted when she felt her phone vibrating in her pocket.

"Hello?" Robin answered the phone without even looking at her caller id, so when she answered the phone she was surprised to hear Ted's voice.

"Hey Robin, its Ted. Did you realize you are missing something?"

"No, what do you mean?"

"Well, I was cleaning up the dining room and found your keys on the floor. They must have fallen out of your pocket or something."

"No, are you kidding me?" Robin quickly went through her coat pockets and then her purse and realized that she was indeed missing her keys. "Dammit, how am I suppose to get into my apartment now?"

"Well, I'm sure your landlord has an extra one. Just ask him."

"Yeah Ted, wake up my landlord at 1:30 in the morning so he can hate me even more."

"Well, unless you want to come back to my place to get your keys that might be your only option."

"No, I'll figure something out. Thanks."

"No problem. I'm going into the city with Tracey tomorrow for a doctors appointment so I can always drop them off to you."

"Yeah that would be great. Thanks Ted."

"No problem, I'll see you tomorrow." Ted hung up the phone and Robin followed suit, not holding back her annoyance at her own stupidity.

"What's wrong?" Barney asked, clearly seeing how flustered Robin was.

"My keys are at Teds. They must have fallen out of my pocket. Now I have no way of getting into my apartment tonight. He's bringing them back to me tomorrow."

"Well, if you need a place to stay for the night you can crash at my place. I don't bite." Barney said with a smirk, secretly hoping that she would jump on the offer.

"No Barney I couldn't do that to you. You have to take care of Ellie and I would just be in the way. Thanks anyway though."

"Robin its really not a problem. You can stay in my room and I'll take the couch. What other option do you have? The alley behind your building?"

"Well there is good airflow back there." Robin joked. "Are you sure its not a problem? I really can find another place to stay."

"Really Robin its fine. We lived together for 3 years I think we can manage one more night."

"Okay Barney. Thank you so much."

Barney flashed a grin at Robin and when she looked away he mumbled under his breath, "Of course, anything for you."


	7. Chapter 7

Ch.7

Barney's apartment had not changed much. It was still the same dark grey color scheme with the storm trooper standing in the corner. The only major difference was the children toys scattered all over the floor. When they walked in the sitter stood up from the couch and turned off the television.

"Ellie is fast asleep. I gave her a bath and we had grilled chicken for dinner." The babysitter filled Barney in on their evening.

"Thank you so much. Here you go." Barney handed the sitter a stack of bills before she left for the night. "Goodnight Jeanie."

"Goodnight Mr. Stinson."

"You make yourself at home, I'll go get you some sweats and a t-shirt." Barney left Robin in the living room while he headed to his bedroom to get some clothes.

Robin knew she shouldn't snoop but she couldn't help it. She wanted to see what Barney had been up to so she walked around his apartment a bit. Nothing looked out of the ordinary. Laptop, Ellie's toys, and what looked like some work files. Robin continued to look around and saw some pictures on display. Some of his mom, Ellie, and the old gang hanging out at MacLarens. Nothing she didn't expect to see, until she came across a picture she never would have thought Barney would keep. It was a picture of him and her on their honeymoon after they got married. They were all dressed up ready to go out to dinner with Lei's around their necks and piña coladas in their hands. They looked so happy, and they were. Robin remembered that day like it was yesterday.

_"So what do you say we do something fancy for dinner tonight." Barney suggested as he and Robin lay next to each other on the beach._

_"Oh yeah that sounds nice. We can get dressed to the nines and order fancy champagne." _

_"That's the only way I know how to do it Scherbatsky."_

_"You have got to stop calling me Scherbatsky. We're married now remember. I am now Mrs. Robin Stinson." Robin giggled and pulled Barney onto her towel so they were looking directly into each others eyes._

_"I love you so much. You know that right?" Barney leaned in and kissed Robin before she could answer._

_"I do know that, and I love you." They kissed once more before Barney pulled away._

_"Okay then, lets get back to the room, shower, together of course, whadup and get us some grub." And they did just that, and enjoyed every moment of it._

Robin remembers that as being one of the best nights of her life. It all just seemed so simple. They got to relax in each others company and joked around all night. Of course that night consisted of some other activity that they both enjoyed but that was just the nature of their relationship. Simple and fun. But it was only simple in the beginning, things got hard and that's why they divorced. Robin had to remind herself that before she started to question why they ended things in the first place.

Robin's thoughts were interrupted when Barney walked into the room with clothes for Robin.

"Here you go. Sweats and Tee. You can get changed in my room. I just have to grab an extra pillow so I can set up my bed." Barney gestured towards the couch and started to walk away.

"Wait Barney, I'm not taking your bed. Your being nice enough to let me sleep here in the first place I could at least stay on the couch."

"No way, absolutely not. There is no way I am sleeping in my bed when I know you are out here sleeping on the couch. Your taking my bed, end of discussion." And with that Barney walked out of the room to get himself a pillow and blanket.

Robin changed into the clothes Barney had given her and climbed under the covers of Barney's bed, a bed she had spent so many nights in before. It just felt different now, without him beside her. She kept thinking about all of the times she had shared with the man just a hallway away from her and how long it had been since she had made any new memories with him. Pushed by her thoughts, Robin got out of bed and made her way into the living room where Barney was laying on the couch.

"Barney?" Robin whispered. "Are you still awake?"

"What? Yeah I'm awake. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, every thing is fine. Its just…" Robin knew what she wanted to say but she didn't know if it would be a good idea. It wasn't to late for her to forget it and go back to bed, but she couldn't. "Its just, its been awhile since we talked, you know, about us. And to be completely honest, I miss how we used to be. Not necessarily when we were married but even before that. When we could just talk for hours and not get bored and joke around without thinking that it would make things awkward. I kind of just want that again."

Robin didn't hear anything from Barney for what seemed like minutes, but in reality she knew it was only a couple of seconds.

"Then come sit down, I guess we have a lot of catching up to do."


	8. Chapter 8

Thank you everybody for the positive response, I'm trying to get one chapter a day but that might become more difficult. I hope you enjoy!

Ch.8

It was roughly 2:00 in the morning and Robin found herself sitting next to Barney on his couch talking about what their lives had been like for the past eight years. Robin learned more about Barney's daughter and her mother. Robin could really tell how much he loved Ellie. His eyes gleamed and his smile stretched from ear to ear whenever he talked about her. Along with his daughter, Barney and Robin talked about how work had been for Robin and how the demanding nature of her job had kept her from being in a serious relationship with anyone since Barney.

"Well that's just crazy! You need to get yourself back out there." Barney was truly shocked that Robin had not seen anyone seriously since their divorce. I mean, it had been eight years.

"I don't know Barney. I have had so many relationships in the past and every one of them had failed miserably. Maybe its just better that I'm alone." Robin had pretty much given up on relationships after Barney. She was just to busy and wanted to focus on her career.

"I don't think that's true. I think you need to find someone that makes you happy."

" I had my chance. I give up."

"Well I'm sorry that's how you feel. I mean, I know firsthand how great of a catch you are. The things you could do in bed…" Barney brought his fist to his mouth and bit down to emphasize his point but that just got a slap from Robin, but it also got a few giggles.

"Barney I'm serious. I'm done trying to look for the right person. For now, I'm just going to settle down here in New York, focus on my job and if Mr. Right finds me then that's fine, but I am done looking."

"Okay then if that's what you want."

"It is." Robin just nodded her head and looked down at her hands as she picked at her nail. She was about to call it in for the night when Barney broke the silence.

"Do you remember the last time we were in this room together? You know, before Argentina."

Robin tried to remember back to the last time she was here before they decided to get a divorce but couldn't quite put her finger on a specific moment. Barney took Robin's silence as a no and decided to fill her in.

"It was right before we were about to leave for Argentina in 2016 and our bags were by the door. I was mad that you had told me I couldn't pack a bag to check and that I could only take a carryon to make getting through the airport easier. Of course, telling me that I had to cut back on my suits got me mad. I was screaming at you and you were screaming at me. I guess that trip was destined for failure. But anyway, I guess you realized that fighting wasn't going to solve anything so you just stopped screaming. You gave me that look like you were going to kill me, you know the one, and then something weird happened. You threw your purse down and pulled me into one of the most amazing kisses we ever shared. When you pulled away you didn't explain yourself, you just said 'we should probably get going, we cant miss that flight' and then you grabbed you bags and walked out the door. That was one of the most confusing moments of my life, and I have had plenty, mostly involving a strangers bed and weird role playing. Do you remember that?"

"How am I suppose to remember the bed of a stranger that you woke up in?"

"Not the bed silly, you know what I mean." Robin smirked at him before giving her answer.

"Yes I remember now. I guess that trip was destined to fail from the start."

"Yeah, it really was. But I have a question. Why did you kiss me like that? What was it for?"

"Honestly, I just remember thinking that here we were fighting about something stupid as always and how pointless it was. That even though we fought like we hated each other, I really loved you. And in that moment I wanted to show you that even when we were at our worst, I could forget it all and show how much I loved you. I guess at the time it was just confusing for you, but I really just wanted to show you that a stupid fight didn't matter, and that I loved you."

"Wow. I guess I should have asked you what that was about sooner. Maybe things would have wound up different."

"Do you really believe that though? You were unhappy. One little conversation wouldn't have changed that fact."

"We'll we were both unhappy right? It wasn't just me. You were tired of all the fighting just as much as I was."

"Yeah I was tired of the fighting, but to be honest, I was willing to work through it. When I asked you if you would take an out, I was praying that you would say no. But when you said that you weren't happy, and later that you wanted a divorce, it killed me. I know I said I agreed but that's just because I knew it would make you happy. I didn't want to fight it if it was going to happen anyway."

"Oh my god, Robin I didn't know any of this. You should have just told me how you felt."

"I couldn't because that would just lead to us staying together a little longer, us fighting even more and then you resenting me and asking for divorce anyway. I didn't want that to happen, so I agreed upfront."

"I cant believe this. I thought you felt the same way. I'm so sorry."

"Barney you have nothing to be sorry about. That's the way you felt and you cant change that." At that moment Barney reached over and placed a hand on Robin's knee and rubbed it with his thumb. They shared a small smile before Robin said goodnight to Barney and headed to the room she once shared with him, only this time she went alone.


	9. Chapter 9

Ch.9

When Robin woke up the next morning, she had briefly forgotten that she had slept at Barney's. Once she remembered where she was and why she was there, she made her way into the living room. She was greeted by a surprisingly pleasant Barney and his daughter Ellie.

"Good morning. How did you sleep?" Barney asked Robin.

"Pretty good actually. I must have been really tired because I don't even remember going to bed last night."

"Well it was a long day yesterday. Do you want any breakfast? I'm making some pancakes for Ellie."

"No, that's okay. I need to try to get in touch with Ted to see when he can get me my keys."

"Well you should at least have some coffee. I know you never passed up on that before. And if you change your mind on the pancakes I'll make some extra."

"Okay, yeah coffee sounds good. Thank you." As Barney made Robin her cup of coffee, Robin called Ted to find out what time he would be in the city.

"Hey Ted. I was just wondering when you were going to be in the city. Maybe we can meet up somewhere for lunch or something and I can get my keys."

"Tracey's appointment is at 2:30 so if you want I can get the keys to you around 2:00, but I don't think lunch will work. Tracey wants to visit some old friends before her appointment."

"Okay, that sounds good. Meet me at my place at 2:00 I guess. Is that good?"

"Yeah, that works. Before you go though, were you able to find a place to stay last night?"

"Yeah I actually stayed at Barney's. He's really the only person I know that still lives in the city so he let me stay at his place."

"Oh okay, I wasn't expecting that. Barney hasn't been all to open lately."

"Well I think he may be getting a little better."

"Good to hear. Okay Robin I'll see you in a little bit."

"Bye Ted."

Robin made her way back into the kitchen where Barney was sitting with Ellie as she drowned her pancakes in syrup.

"Did you talk to Ted?" Barney asked.

"Yeah, I'm going to meet up with him at 2:00."

"Okay, then that still gives you a few hours." Barney handed Robin a cup of coffee.

"Yeah and I cant even do anything until then because I cant get into my apartment."

"Then just hang out with us. We're pretty cool. Tiny five." Barney put his hand out to Ellie who hit it as hard as she could.

"Why not, I have nothing else to do."

"That's the spirit Scherbatsky. Now, chow down on some pancakes and lets get a'crackin!"

"Do you have big plans that I don't know about or something?" Robin said with a smile as she grabbed some pancakes.

"I'm glad you asked, and why yes we do! Today we are going to the… AMERICAN GIRL DOLL STORE! Yay!" Barney and Ellie both cheered in excitement as Robin sat looking confused.

"American Girl Doll?"

"Yes Robin, AMERICAN Girl Doll. I understand you would be more into going if it was Canadian girl doll, but its not so buurrnn!"

"Why are we going there?"

"Well, when I told you that you could stay over I kind of forgot that I had promised Ellie we would go shopping for her American Girl Doll today. You don't have to come if you don't want to but it might be fun."

"Yeah that actually sounds nice. And like I said, I have nothing else to do so why not. As long as you have me back at my place by 2:00 then we have a deal."

"Okay then sounds good. I want to be out of here by 11:00 so if you have to shower and stuff do that soon. I'll get Ellie ready."

By 10:30, everybody was dressed and ready for the day. Ellie had her American Girl Doll in hand and they were off. Robin was still dressed in the same clothes as yesterday which bothered her a bit but no one but Barney knew, so it was no big deal. Getting to the American Girl Doll store consisted only of one subway ride and a short walk, and in that time Robin got to see firsthand how Barney and Ellie interacted. It was adorable. Barney was always holding her hand and making her laugh. She had never seen him so happy before.

"Okay here we are, are you ready baby girl." Barney picked up Ellie and put her on his shoulders as they walked into the store.

"Wow. Look at this place daddy."

"I know it's so big. You should be able to find everything you want for Mandy here." Mandy was the name given to Ellie's doll.

"Mandy needs new clothes."

"Okay then. Lets find her some clothes." Barney, Robin and Ellie spent about an hour and a half walking around the store picking out things for Elli's doll. For the most part Robin and Barney stayed back as Ellie ran forward to every section of the store.

"Hey, look at this." Barney went over to rack that displayed a little maple leaf shirt. "I guess they could be Canadian Girl Dolls if you wanted them to be."

"Yeah I guess so." At that moment Ellie came running back over to Barney and Robin complaining of hunger. Barney took that as the 'I've had enough of this place, its time to leave' queue that he knew all to well.

"Okay, lets go get some lunch." It was about 12:30 and the trio were walking the streets looking for a place to eat before the settled on a small American style grill.

"What are you going to get honey?"

"Chicken fingers!"

"Of course you are."

"So do you think Mandy will like all of the new things you got her today?" Robin asked Ellie.

"Yeah she's gonna love them. She likes all the same things I like."

"Oh yeah, and what kind of things do you like?"

"Um, I like to dance and play with my dolls. And I like ponies and painting and playing laser tag!"

"Laser tag is a lot of fun. Let me guess, your dad likes to take you there?"

"We go all the time. Daddy's the best. He said he was the all time best."

"He did, did he. Back when I first met your daddy we used to go laser tagging all the time, he was always really good."

"Is that how you met my daddy?"

"Actually no, we met somewhere else."

"Where?"

At this point Barney interrupted. "Uncle Ted introduced us. He was really good friends with Robin and then we all became friends." Robin guessed this was partially true, but she couldn't help but think back to how she really met Barney, when he introduced her to Ted.

"Oh, was that awhile ago?"

"Wow you have a lot of questions today Ellie. But yes it was. 19 years ago actually."

"You guys must be good friends."

Barney and Robin looked at each other, both thinking about how close they were, close enough to get married. What happened to them? Here they were, practically strangers in each others current lives but with so much history that they felt so comfortable.

"Yeah Ell, we are."


	10. Chapter 10

This one is a little shorter but I will have another one up tomorrow:) I hope you enjoy

Ch. 10

2:00 was approaching and Barney, Robin and Ellie were on their way back to Robin's apartment to meet Ted and Tracey. Even though Robin didn't want to admit it, she had a good time that morning. Barney and Ellie were good company and spending time with Barney made her feel at home again in New York. When they reached Robin's apartment building Ted was not there yet so they just waited outside.

"So listen Barney, I had a really good day today. And that little girl of yours is amazing. She's lucky to have you as her father."

"Thanks Robin, that actually means a lot coming from you."

"Well its true, she's in good hands." Robin and Barney were interrupted by Ellie's shrieking, signifying that Ted and Tracey had arrived.

"Uncle Ted!" Ellie ran up to Ted and jumped into his arms.

"Hey Ellie, look at you. Your getting so big, I'm not going to be able to pick you up pretty soon."

Ted and Tracey greeted Barney and Robin before handing over the keys to Robin.

"Thank you so much Ted. I can't believe I did that. Thank god I had Barney though because I would have been sleeping on the streets."

"That's actually what I suggested but she insisted on staying at my place." Barney joked. This earned a playful punch from Robin.

Ted and Tracey both couldn't help but notice the dynamic between the two. It was usually so tense between them but they both seemed so at ease.

"Well I'm glad you didn't let her do that." Tracey replied to Barney's comment.

"So you have another doctor's appointment today? What's that for?" Robin asked.

"Well, after giving it much thought, we figured we might as well try chemotherapy. We didn't want to because the odds are stacked against it working and I wanted to enjoy my time here, but there is a 30% chance that it will shrink the tumor enough to be operable and if there is a even a chance I think I would be stupid to give up my life. Yes this situation isn't ideal but I really want to be here to see my kids grow up, so its worth a shot."

"Oh my god Trace that's awesome! Well, just know that you will be in my prayers every night until you beat this, and you will beat this!" Robin engulfed the much smaller girl in a hug as she said this.

"Thank you so much. I love you guys! But we do need to get going. What do you say Ted. Time to head out?"

"Yeah its about that time. We'll see you guys around. And Robin, don't drop your keys anymore. Next time you wont be so lucky to have me be the one who finds them."

"I know, thanks Ted." And with that Ted and Tracey were off.

"Okay well I better get up to my apartment. I haven't changed my clothes in two days."

"Okay, it was nice spending the day with you. Hopefully we can do it again soon."

"Yeah, definitely."

"Maybe next time though it could just be me and you. As fun as American Girl Doll shopping is, maybe dinner would be a little more appropriate."

"Yeah Barney that sounds great." Robin continued to say goodbye to Barney and Ellie and made her way up to her apartment. When she walked in and closed the door, it had finally hit her what she had just agreed to. No Ellie, a nice dinner, just the two of them… She was going on a date with Barney Stinson.


	11. Chapter 11

Ch.11

"Lily I need your help." As soon as Robin realized what Barney had been implying she needed to call Lily just to make sure she wasn't going crazy.

"Is everything okay? Please tell me a hobo didn't still your clothes while you were sleeping last night?"

"What? Lily no, I didn't sleep outside, I stayed at Barney's and that's kind of what I need to talk to you about.

"You stayed at Barney's? Oh my god Robin was that awkward?"

"No it actually wasn't. It went better than I expected. So well, I think I may have unknowingly agreed to go on a date with him."

"You guys are going on a date?! WOOOO! I knew you guys were going to get back together! I knew it!"

"Lily, god calm down we are not getting back together. I didn't even realize what I was agreeing to when I said I would go to dinner with him. Should I cancel, I should cancel right?"

"Well that depends. If you realized he was asking you on a date in that moment would you still have said yes?"

"I don't know, maybe. Its just, I just got back to New York a couple weeks ago and the last thing I want to do is run back to my past, especially a past that's as messy as mine and Barney's."

"Then give it some time. Barney isn't going anywhere. He hasn't seen anyone in years and he even said if It didn't work with you it would never work with anyone. Just see how things go with him as a part of our group and then maybe you'll still want to go on that date."

"Okay Lil, thanks. I'll let you know if anything happens."

"Okay, I'll keep in touch, bye."

When robin hung up she went into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of wine. What had she done? A date with Barney? Did she really want that? She didn't know what she wanted. But she did know she would think about it. She had to, it was Barney, she was never one for giving up so easily on Barney. After all, if he thought they should give their relationship another chance then it wouldn't hurt to try. Robin figured the best thing she could do was to just go about her normal day and get ready for work. If Barney really did want to go on a date, he would call.

And he did, three days later.

"Hey Robin, watcha been up to?"

"Nothing really, just settling into my new job and apartment. How about you? How's Ellie?"

"Oh Ellie's great! And for the record, she has not stopped talking about you since we spent the day together. I think she's liking you Scherbatsky."

"Awe, well I'm glad to hear that. She is a cute kid."

"She is isn't she! Anyway, I was wondering if you remembered what we spoke of before you left the other day."

"I do remember, I was actually wondering the same the thing by you."

"Of course I remember. There's no way I'd forget. I just want to make sure of something though. You know that was me asking you to go on a date with me right? Because I kind of realized how much I miss you after spending that time with you, and now that your in New York for good there is really no reason we cant give it another shot."

"Yeah I kind of figured that's what it was. And listen Barney I have had a lot of time to think about it and I'm not so sure I want to jump back into my past again. Every time I do that it just winds up biting me in the ass. Its not like we were dating and broke up and could give it another try. We were married, like really married and we went through a divorce, and you have a kid now. Its more than just seeing where things go now, we have a lot behind us and with Ellie we would have even more in front of us. Are you sure you want to go through that all with me? Because I need to be sure that's what you want before I agree to anything."

"Robin, I have never been so sure of something in my life. What's the worst that happens, we have a bad date? If that's the case then we agree to keep it platonic. I really want to give this another shot Robin, the fact of the matter is that I was my happiest in the times I spent with you."

Robin began to get that feeling in her stomach, the nervous feeling she got whenever she talked to someone she could see a real future with. Barney had given her that feeling on more than one occasion, and he was doing it again.

"Pick me up at 7:00."


	12. Chapter 12

Ch. 12

Barney was going to be over any minute now and Robin didn't know what to do with herself. She was so nervous she was practically shaking. She knew she didn't have a legitimate reason to be this nervous. Its not like she had never gone out with Barney before, she had been married to him. But this was different. This was going to be the first time they were out together since their divorce. Now that was a good reason to be nervous. What was Barney expecting? Did he want to get back together? Like for good? She didn't know if that's what she wanted. It had gone bad with Barney so many times, but it seemed like they always found a way back to each other. She didn't know If that was a blessing or a curse.

A minute later she heard a knock at her door. Okay this was it, she needed to calm down and act natural. And that's what she did.

"Hey Barney. Right on time."

"I don't like to keep anyone waiting. I hope your hungry, I'm taking you to that Italian place La Strada's. Best food ever."

"Sounds good to me. I'm starved."

"Okay then, shall we?" Barney put his arm for Robin to grab onto. She latched her arm around his.

"We shall."

Barney and Robin proceeded to go to dinner. They walked there because it wasn't too far and it was late spring so it was nice outside. They didn't say much on the walk there; they just enjoyed being in each other's company. Once they got to the restaurant, they were seated immediately.

"Wow, this is a nice place. Is it new?" Robin looked around in astonishment at the place Barney had taken her.

"Kind of, opened about two years ago. I've only been her two other times but both times it was amazing."

"Well I cant wait to try it." Robin and Barney sat in silence for about a minute before Barney spoke up.

"Robin, I don't want to beat around the bush with this so I'm just going to come out and say it, I've missed you. I miss seeing you everyday and lying with you every night. I miss you telling me everything is going to be okay when it feels like it wont be and you joking about my being one quarter Canadian. I miss everything. My life just doesn't feel normal without you in it. For awhile I was distracting myself by sleeping with random women and then when Ellie was born I was focused on her, but now, I feel like I have nothing keeping me from thinking about you and it pains me to know you probably aren't thinking the same. I made a horrible mistake when I asked for a divorce. I know at the time it was warranted but now I just feel like I let the best thing that ever happened to me slip between my fingers. I'm sorry, that's probably a lot to take in right now. Never mind, we don't have to talk…"

"Barney, if we decide to give this another shot, you need to realize that if we break up again, then that's it. And I don't mean that that's the end of us trying to be together, I mean that's the end of us even being friends, because at that point I just wont be able to handle seeing you. It would be too hard. Is that something your willing to risk?"

"It is. But only if its something your willing to risk. Do you want to give this another shot? This is a two way street. I don't want you saying yes just to make me happy."

"I do, the only thing I'm worried about is Ellie. What if this doesn't work and she has to see me go. You have to think about her now to Barney."

"I did, and I realized that she needs a mother figure. Robin I know you never wanted to be a mother but you would be a great one. Ellie loves you already. This could be good for her. Robin I'm telling you, right now there is no reason why we cant be together. We should be."

"How about we just see how tonight goes. I'm not saying no, I just think that we shouldn't jump into anything."

"Okay, I'm fine with that." From that moment Barney and Robin dropped the relationship conversation and talked about everything else over a wonderful dinner. Robin had to admit, the night was going well, but it wasn't over yet. At least she hopped it wasn't over yet. She was having a good time. After dinner they walked through central park and talked some more. Around 10:00 Barney and Robin had made it back to Robin's apartment. She had work in an hour and needed to change her clothes before going, so they ad to cut the night short.

"Well Barney I have to admit I had a really nice time tonight."

"I know, I did too." They stood outside Robin's apartment door wondering what the next step to take was.

"Do you want to come inside for a little before I have to leave for work?"

"Yeah, that sounds nice." Robin and Barney walked in silently. Robin flipped the lights on and placed her purse on the table next to the door.

"It's a nice place you got here."

"Thanks, nothing too fancy. I just liked it because its close to my job."

"Yeah that's always a plus."

"Can I get you something to drink. Wine maybe?"

"Yeah sure, thank you." Robin poured herself and Barney a glass of wine and sat down in the couch. Barney followed suit.

"So, you have to go to work at 11:00?"

"Yeah, I anchor the 11:00 news."

"I'll have to check that out sometime."

"You better, its not going to be like last time when I went for years without you guys all watching my show."

"Don't worry, this time it will happen." They both smiled at each other, not knowing what else to say. Robin, however, did realize that Barney was resting his hand on her thigh. She then took it upon herself to cover his hand with her own. Just these small gestures, she could tell, were going to lead to something bigger. And if it did she wouldn't stop it. As she began to have these thoughts she noticed Barney shift himself towards her. He then took his hand and cupped her face. He gently brushed his thumb over her check and as he did so Robin closed her eyes. She began to softly tremble until his thumb reached her lip, she then went completely still. She opened her eyes only to see Barney leaning in towards her, with his eyes intently placed on hers. Once his face was less than an inch away from hers, he stopped.

"Is this okay?" He whispered. Robin didn't even vocally respond, instead she just let out a soft 'mhmm' before Barney closed the remaining gap. When their lips finally met, it felt familiar. Everything they both remembered about kissing each other flooded back and hit them like a truck, but something was also different. There was a longing, a passionate drive behind their kiss that said 'I let go for too long, and I wont let it happen again.' They both melted into each other, getting lost in each others touch. Neither one of them knows how long this goes on until they stop and realize the time.

"10:40. Wow, I have to get to work. Lost track of time there for a little bit."

"Yeah, I wish we were able to continue losing track of time."

"I know, I'm sorry, but I really do have to get to work. Barney I had a really good time tonight, probably the best time I had in awhile, so thank you for that. And also, about what we talked about at dinner, I guess there is no harm in giving this a shot."

"Really? Awesome! I really think this is good for us Robin."

"I think it will be too."

"Okay, I'll let you get to work. I'll see you soon okay?" Barney leaned in for one more kiss with Robin before he left.

As he walked out the door Robin couldn't help but think that she really was making the right choice. She polished off her glass of wine, gave herself a pat on the back and whispered to herself "You did good Scherbatsky, you did good."


	13. Chapter 13

Thank you all for such positive reviews! It means a lot that people are actually enjoying my writing! I hope you continue to enjoy:)

Ch. 13

Robin woke up the next day with a smile on her face. Last night was her date with Barney and it had gone amazing. They talked, they laughed and they kissed. The perfect way to end the night. Robin felt like she was a kid again, falling in love for the first time, nothing could ruin this moment, nothing. Robin reached over to her phone on her night stand and realized she had a message from Barney. It read _Good morning beautiful. I hope you have an amazing day. Last night was fun, hopefully I'll see you later. _This made Robin's stomach flip over on itself. This was what she missed about being with Barney, the little thoughtful things he would do just because. She responded_ Why don't you and Ellie come over for dinner tonight, I'll make spaghetti and meatballs, your favorite._

Not much longer, Robin got another text from Barney. _Sounds good, we'll be there at 6:00_.

Robin had realized that by dating Barney again, she was also becoming part of Ellie's life. She didn't know how to be an active part of a child's life but she needed to try. Dinner was a good place to start. She wondered if Barney was going to tell Ellie the nature of their relationship or if he was just going to continue saying 'my friend Robin.' She guessed it really didn't matter. Ellie was only 4, its not like she fully understood the concept of boyfriend and girlfriend. She would leave that up to Barney. But she did make another decision on her own not to tell Ted, Marshall and Lily yet. If what Barney and Robin had was anything, they needed to find out first. If they told the gang then they would feel obligated to stay together again despite possibly not wanting to. For now, this was just between them. And if Lily asked, Robin would just tell her that she had misunderstood Barney when he suggested dinner. It was completely platonic. Of course, she did need to let Barney know this so he didn't tell them. She decided to do that at dinner.

Robin felt her phone vibrate again, thinking it was going to be Barney she started to smile without looking at the screen, but once she did she realized it was Ted.

_Hey gang, just wanted to let you know Tracey and I have a good idea, and hopefully you all will be on board. Want to meet somewhere in the city around 8:00 tonight so we can talk? _

This kind of put a damper on the plans she had with Barney tonight, but Robin needed to be there for Ted and especially Tracey. She decided to text Barney before she texted Ted back.

_Hey Barney, I'm assuming you got Ted's text. Would you be mad if I had the whole gang over for dinner tonight? I know it was just suppose to be the three of us but if Ted and Tracey need us it couldn't hurt._

Barney texted back almost immediately. _I was just about to suggest something similar. That is fine with me, that way we can tell them all the good news! _Just what she was afraid of, he wants to tell them.

_Actually Barney idk if we should tell them right away. Maybe lets just see where this goes and if all goes well then we can tell them. _Robin was hoping this wouldn't hurt his feelings.

_Okay baby, if that's what you want. I'll see you tonight._ Good, he had agreed. Now Robin just needed to text everyone else back. She used group messaging.

_How about you all come to my place around 6:00 for dinner. We can talk then._

Within minutes she got texts from everybody confirming they would be there and one text from Lily asking if she could bring the kids. Robin, of course, told her yes before preparing for what was happening tonight. She couldn't help but wonder what Ted and Tracey's good idea was. She guessed she would have to wait.

The day came and went and soon it was 5:45. The gang would be here soon and Robin had just put the water on the stove. By the time they got here the food would be ready. Robin wasn't used to having people over for dinner, she usually never did because she burnt everything but when she was married to Barney she learned how to master spaghetti and meatballs because it was his favorite. Looks like it paid off. A minute later she heard a knock at the door. When she opened it she saw Barney carrying a sleeping Ellie in his arms.

"Hey, am I the first one here?"

"Why yes you are."

"Good, that means I can do this." He leaned down and placed a small kiss on Robin's lips. When he pulled away he had the biggest smile on his face. "I have been wanting to do that all day."

Robin just giggled before saying, "She must be tired. Long day?"

"Yeah, she was fussy all day. Wouldn't let me dress her, didn't want to eat. I don't know what got into her. I guess she was just tired."

"Well, you can let her lay down in my room for a little until its time for dinner. At least it will be quite in there."

"Okay, thanks. Which room is it?"

"Last one on the left." Barney disappeared into the room before coming out a minute later with no Ellie.

"Hopefully she will wake up in a better mood than before. I am so exhausted. I wont be able to deal with it if she is fussy again."

"Well you will have all of us here to help if she gets like that. No big deal." Robin didn't notice until now but Barney had suited down again. He was dressed in casual clothes, jeans and a t-shirt. "Why aren't you wearing a suit? I think I have only seen you leave the house maybe twice without wearing a suit."

"Well when you have to take care of a screaming four year old all day, just throwing on a pair of jeans and tee sounds more appealing than a full suit."

"Oh okay, so you're going for comfort now. Fatherhood has changed you."

"Yeah but not where it matters." Barney walked towards Robin and grabbed both of her hands. He leaned down and kissed her again, but this time he didn't back away. Once again, they melted into each other's touch, getting lost in this small but meaningful moment. That was, until there was a knock at the door. Barney and Robin pulled away hesitantly. "I guess I better get that." Robin said as she walked towards the door. She opened to the door to see Lily, Marshall and there three kids standing in the doorway.

"Hello! Wow Robin this place is awesome. And whatever your making smells amazing!" Marshall walked in and took a huge sniff of the air surrounding him.

"Thank you, come on in. Hey guys." Robin crouched down so she was even with the kids. "How are you guys? You're getting so big." Whenever Robin saw Marvin she was brought back to a time when things were simpler. When he was born, her and Barney had not yet been engaged, Ted hadn't met Tracey and no one else had kids. Things were so different then. She wondered if Marvin knew the impact he had on all of their lives, or if he knew how much they all loved him when he was born. He was around for it all. She knew he was young now, but there was no doubt in Robin's mind that when he was older Lily and Marshall would tell him the whole story, the story of life before he was born. And if they didn't then she was sure Ted would get a hold of him and do all the talking. At that moment Ted and Tracey came up behind them.

"Hey! How are you? Come in." Robin escorted Ted and Tracey inside, giving them each hugs on the way in. "Dinner should be done any minute." Robin went into the kitchen and got them each a glass of wine, and a glass of juice for each of the kids.

She finished preparing dinner and then brought it out to the dining room table where everybody was sitting. "Dinner is served!"

"I'm going to go get Ellie." Barney left his spot at the table to go wake up Ellie. Robin sat down next to Lily with Barney's open chair on her right. As she sat down, Robin felt Lily tap her on the leg underneath the table. Robin looked over at her and Lily whispered "So did you guys go on that date?"

"No, actually I misunderstood. I'll tell you about it later." Barney then came out carrying a sleepy eyed Ellie. Barney put Ellie down on a folding chair that was set up to accommodate the extra people and cut up her spaghetti and meatballs.

"You're going to eat for daddy right."

"No, not hungry."

"Baby you haven't eaten all day. You need to eat." Ellie just shook her head, folded her arms and rested them on the table that she could barely reach.

"Ellie, baby your daddy wants you to eat something. Why don't you listen to him okay? If you don't eat your dinner you cant have any of the cookies uncle Marshall and I brought." Lily was trying to help but Ellie was just being stubborn, she continued to refuse to eat.

"I don't have the patience for this anymore, Ellie either you eat or your going back in Robin's room by yourself and no desert." Robin could hear the frustration in Barney's voice. He was getting mad, and the fact that Ellie was still refusing to eat didn't help. "Okay that's it…" Barney got up from his chair, tore a screaming Ellie from the table and brought her to Robin's room. The remaining people at the table all shared a look when they heard a blood-curdling scream come from the other room. They then heard Barney screaming for her to stop kicking and sit on the bed. Barney then came back with a look of annoyance on his face.

"Sorry about that guys, she's been giving me a hard time all day, I just don't want to deal with it anymore."

"Its fine don't worry about it. That's just how kids are." Ted said to insure Barney it was no big deal, but all that was going through Robin's head, besides the piercing screams coming from Ellie in the other room, was, 'What did I get myself into?'


	14. Chapter 14

Thank you all again for the feedback! I am going to try my best to post a new chapter each day but I am going to be pretty busy these next couple of days. If I slack I am sorry! Enjoy:)

Ch. 14

As the gang and the kids finished up dinner and Ellie finally stopped screaming, Barney asked Ted what good idea he and Tracey thought up.

"Well actually this was pretty much Tracey's idea so I'm going to let her tell you."

"Thanks Ted. Okay so at this point you all know that I decided to do chemotherapy to try and shrink my tumor. I went to the doctor and they said for my best chance I need to start as soon as possible, preferably within the next two weeks. So of course, I took that as lets start in two weeks. So basically I have two more weeks before I start feeling all sick and stuff from my chemo so I want to make the most of these two weeks. I know this may be asking too much of you all so last minute, but I was thinking that starting this Saturday, we can go on a vacation together. All of the kids and us. We have never done it before and I think it would be a blast I already looked into and found a flight and a hotel we can stay at in Hawaii. I know its last minute, but what do you guys think."

They were all silent while they thought it over. Robin was the first one to speak up. "Well I'm in if you guys are. I can call into work and tell them its an emergency and they will let me take off. I think this could be a lot of fun."

"Yeah that's what we wanted to hear." Tracey cheered.

"Yeah, we can do that I guess. I have always wanted to take a vacation with all of you so, Marshall what do you think." Lily seemed into it but naturally she asked Marshall.

"LETS GO TO HAWAII!" Marvin, Daisy and Aubrey all cheered along with their father.

"That just leaves you Barney, you coming."

"No, I have better things to do." They all looked at him like he had 10 heads. "Relax, I'm joking, of course I'll be there."

"Oh my god, this is awesome. This is going to be so much fun. And another thing. You guys aren't paying at all. Tracey's parents offered to pay, they actually insisted."

"No, that's too much. We aren't going to let them do that." Marshall stated, knowing how expensive that trip was going to be.

"Too late Marshall, my parents already gave me $10,000 cash so no refusing. This will happen."

"Wow, thank you so much. This is going to be so much fun." Barney said to Ted and Tracey.

"Its our pleasure, believe me. So I looked into hotels. I found one that's $600 a night per room and is really nice. I also found a flight that has enough seats open for all of us. So if you guys give the go ahead I can book it. 4 rooms and 12 plane tickets."

"4 rooms?" Barney asked

"Yeah, one for our family, one for Lily, Marshall and their kids, one for you and Ellie and one for Robin."

"Well if it saves your parents $600 a night than Robin can share a room with me and Ellie. If there are two beds than that will work out. Ellie can just sleep with me." Robin shot Barney a look, worried that he was going to blow their cover, but then realized that it actually made sense. She was just one person, no use in having her own room.

"Well if Robin is okay with that than I guess that will work." Tracey looked at Robin for an answer.

"Um yeah that's fine. If it will save your parents money."

"Okay then, that's settled. 3 rooms and 12 plane tickets." Tracey smiled at them both.

"Well I better go check on Ellie. I know she's refusing to eat but she has got to be hungry. She hasn't eaten all day." Barney got up, prepared for another screaming fit. He disappeared into Robin's room.

"So you guys appear to be doing well. Sharing a room wont be weird at all?" Ted asked, curious as to why they seemed like they didn't go through a divorce.

"We are doing well. We talked a bit when I stayed at his place and realized fighting wouldn't solve anything. We decided to put our past behind us and start over, for everyone's sake."

"Well that's good, I'm glad to see you guys getting along." Ted genuinely seemed happy that everything seemed to be back to normal. Barney came back into the kitchen with Ellie trailing behind him. She sat down at the table with her eyes downcast.

"Ellie, now what do you say to everybody." Barney said in a stern voice.

"I sorry." Everyone at the table accepted her apology and Ellie seemed to cheer up a bit.

"Okay, now if I heat up some food you're going to eat right?"

"Yes daddy."

"Okay good. I'll be right back." Barney picked up Ellie's plate and brought it to the microwave where he heated it up. When he returned the conversation had shifted back to how excited everyone was for the vacation.

"Once I have everything booked I will give you all a call. And you are all sure that leaving this Saturday isn't to short of notice? It's only 6 days away." Tracey asked the group.

"We are positive. We will get everything taken care of before we leave." Lily said, as everyone else nodded in agreement.

"Okay well its getting kind of late and we still have an hour train ride back home. What do you say we get going Trace?"

"Yeah I'm ready. Thank you Robin so much for having us. I will let you know when we have the rooms and plane all booked."

"Of course, anytime and thank you for including me in this trip. It will be nice to spend time with everybody again." Robin got up and hugged Ted and Tracey goodbye. Next Marshall, Lily and their kids hit the road and soon it was just Robin, Barney and Ellie, who was still working on the meatballs.

"This should be a fun trip. Everyone back together again." Barney said as he and Robin walked back to the table where Ellie was sitting.

"Yeah I'm looking forward to it. I just don't know if it will be possible to keep us a secret if we are surrounded by everyone for a week."

"Then lets not keep it a secret. Robin, we are grown adults. Our friends don't get a say in what we do in our lives. If they care about us then they will support us and respect us if we ask them to take a backseat in our relationship. They are our friends we should be able to tell them." Robin could see that Barney was hurt by her not wanting to share their relationship.

"Okay, I'll tell you what. We go the rest of this week keeping it between us and then once we get to the hotel we will tell everybody. Does that sound good?"

"Sounds like a plan!" Barney was excited, but he said this next thing much softer so Ellie wouldn't hear. "And as far as telling Ellie goes, I think we should let her know as soon as possible. She is not one for change so if she sees us hanging around with each other a lot she's going to freak out until I tell her everything."

"Okay, should we tell her now?"

"Are you comfortable with that?"

"I guess, I mean you're her father so it's really up to you."

"Lets tell her." Barney and Robin both turned their bodies so they were facing Ellie who was just finishing up her dinner. "Ellie, baby. I have something I need to tell you. Remember awhile back I told you that I used to be married, like Uncle Marshall and Aunt Lily or Uncle Ted and Aunt Tracey?"

"Yeah."

"And remember I told you that you should only marry someone you couldn't live without, someone you love so much that it would hurt to be without them?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I had that once. I used to love someone so much that I wanted to be with her every second. But things didn't work so we had to leave each other. But I never stopped loving her because she was my best friend. Do you understand so far Ellie?"

"Yeah."

"Okay good, because that person was Robin. Robin and me were married a while ago, before you were even born. And I just wanted to make sure with you that it was okay that I have another woman in my life again. You will always be number one but Robin is very important to me to. Is that okay with you that Robin spend some time with us for a while?"

"Yeah, I like Robin! Will she go to American Girl Dolls with us again?" Robin and Barney both laughed at how excited Ellie was.

"Yeah sure she can come again, but she will also be doing other things with us okay."

"Okay!"

"Good Ellie. I love you so much you know that right?"

"I love you too daddy."

"Okay baby girl, I think we should leave soon. Its almost bedtime."

"Let me walk you guys to the door." Robin stood from her chair and led Barney and Ellie to the front door.

"I guess I'll be seeing you shortly. It was nice having you over tonight." Robin said as she stood at the door with Barney.

"Yeah I had a lot of fun. Listen, Ellie is going to need some bathing suits before we go to Hawaii. Do you want to come with us tomorrow? I could actually use a few new bathing suits too."

"Yeah, that sounds nice. I'll see you tomorrow then." Robin looked down at Ellie who was paying no attention to them and then leaned into Barney to give him a kiss goodnight. She then leaned down to give Ellie a hug goodbye and before she knew it her apartment was silent again. Although there had been times in her life when she would live for these moments of silence, right now she wanted the craziness back, because it was in those moments of craziness that Robin realized how truly lucky she was.


	15. Chapter 15

Ch. 15

The next morning Robin prepared for her day out with Ellie and Barney. She went through some summer clothes to see what she needed and called her job to let them know she was going to need a week off. Right when she was about to walk out the door to meet Barney and Ellie in the lobby of her building, her phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Robin, hey its Lily. We need to talk."

"Okay, what about?"

"What about? Robin are you serious? A couple days ago you called me asking for Barney advice because you were going on a date with him and yesterday you told me you misunderstood him. You have some explaining to do."

"Well there is really not much to explain. I must have picked up the wrong signals from Barney. Turns out he was asking me to watch Ellie while he went out, not asking me to go out while Ellie stayed home."

"Oh really? Because you two seemed awfully chummy last night. Are you sure there isn't something you need to tell me?"

"Yeah Lil, I'm positive, I need to go though, I have stuff I need to do. I'll talk to you later okay?"

"Okay Robin, you win this time, but just remember, you have been my best friend for 19 years. If you don't think I can tell when you're lying, you have another thing coming." And with that Lily hung up the phone. Robin knew Lily had been able to tell when she was lying in the past, but Robin wasn't all to concerned now because Lily had no proof, plus Robin was going to tell her next week anyway. Robin walked downstairs to the lobby of her building, expecting to see just Barney and Ellie waiting for her. They were there but so was someone else, Lily. Why was Lily here? Oh no, she must have figured it out! If Robin made pretend she didn't see them maybe she could walk out of the building without being seen.

"ROBIN!" Too late. "Hey Robin, look who I found. These two were just standing here, in the lobby of your building. I wonder why?" Lily was trying to act clueless, but she had figured it out.

"Hey Lil." Robin said defeated.

"I knew it! I knew there was something going on. Spill it now!"

"Do you want to tell her or do you want me?" Robin asked, looking at Barney for some help.

"I got this." Barney said. "Okay Lily, you caught us. No use in keeping it a secret anymore. Robin is now Ellie's official babysitter. I came here to drop her off before I went to run some errands."

"Guys stop lying. I know that's not what is going on here."

"Fine. Lily, Barney and I decided to give us another shot. We have no reason not to anymore, and we think this might be really good for us. You happy? Is that what you wanted to hear?"

"WOOO!" Lily seemed more excited for their return to each other than both Barney and Robin combined. "Oh my god I knew you guys would go back to each other!"

"You were right, what can I say. Why are you in my apartment building anyway?" Robin asked, realizing that Lily didn't even live in the city anymore.

"I had some things to do here in the city and figured I'd come visit you. That's when I saw Barney standing here and decided to give you a call."

"You knew when you called me before?"

"Yeah, Barney was standing right next to me and everything." Lily said, feeling awfully proud of herself.

"Well played." Robin said, feeling duped.

"Okay well I'll let you lovebirds go do what ever it is you were going to do, but don't think for a minute I wont be calling you tonight Robin."

"I'll be waiting by the phone." Robin said back sarcastically. Lily gave Robin, Barney and Ellie hugs before she walked out of the building.

"So much for keeping it a secret for the week." Barney said to Robin.

"Lets be honest, that was never going to work. Our friends always find a way to know everything that is going on in our lives. We're all kind of invasive." Robin said with a grin.

"Speak for yourself Scherbatsky, I don't want to know anything that you guys don't want me to know." At this point the trio walked out of the building and started their journey to Macy's.

"That is bull Barney. You're just as bad as the rest of us."

"That is so not true. Give me one time when I was invasive."

"Okay, how about the time Marshall and Lily wanted to keep Marvin's gender a secret and you practically frisked the paper off of Marshall. Or the multiple times you searched for my Robin Sparkles videos even though I made it clear I did not want you guys to see them. Or, when…"

"Okay okay I get it."

"Wait I'm not done. All I need to say for this next one in old king Clancy."

"Oh God, I remember that. Yeah I guess I did use to pester you guys. Sorry about that."

"Its okay, we all did it to each other and I think there is a part of all of us that enjoyed it."

"Yeah I guess." Barney and Robin continued to reminisce about old times until they got to Macy's. They immediately went to the kids department to look for bathing suits for Ellie.

"Okay Ell, you can get two new bathing suits. Any ones that you want." Ellie tugged on Barney's hand, dragging him towards the bathing suits. Robin followed the daddy-daughter couple and looked at the bathing suits on display. They were so cute and tiny. Robin picked up a blue and purple flowered one and fell in love with it. She didn't know why she cared so much about a child's bathing suit but she did.

"Hey Ellie, do you like this one?" Robin handed Ellie the bathing suit and Ellie got very excited.

"Daddy I like this one. Can I get it?" Ellie handed her dad the bathing suit and he looked it over.

"Yeah sure whatever you want baby. We just need to get you the right size. You found that pretty quick though."

"Robin gave it to me. Its really pretty."

"It sure is! Good eye Robin!"

"That's just how I do!" Robin said in a playful voice. Ellie started laughing at her and Robin realized that she had just made a 4-year-old laugh. How did she do that? Oh well, it didn't matter, all she knew is that it made her feel good. After an hour in the kids department looking for summer clothes for Ellie, they made their way to the men's department to shop for Barney.

"Okay, I need new bathing suits and tank tops. If you guys see any that you like let me know." The trio started to look through the racks when Ellie found a bathing suit.

"Daddy, daddy I like this one!" Ellie ran over to Barney and handed him a bright pink bathing suit.

"Pink baby, really?"

"I like pink."

"Okay, I will try it on." Robin walked over to Barney with a suspicious look on her face.

"You're going to wear a pink bathing suit?"

"No, I just have to tell Ellie that to make her happy."

"Oh so lying to the kid is acceptable?" Robin said with a mock smile on her face.

"You know what I mean, don't make me kick you out of our super fun shopping day."

"Oh no don't do that!" Robin continued to say in a mocking tone as she playfully threw her hands in the air.

Barney continued to look for bathing suits and tank tops until he had a good selection and went into the fitting room to try them on. Robin turned to Ellie when Barney was gone and said, "I hope your daddy likes the pink one." This put a smile on Ellie's face as she agreed with Robin. A minute later Barney came out to the waiting area in one of the tank tops that he had picked out. Robin had to admit, he looked good showing off some muscle, and he had a lot to show off. His arms were nice and toned and Robin certainly wouldn't be against him in a tank top 24/7.

"I like it. It fits you nice and the color brings out your eyes."

"Then I shall get it! I got more to try on, I'll be back." Barney ran back to the fitting room to try on more clothes. He tried on three more tank tops before he got to the bathing suits. When he finally did come out in a bathing suit, Robin couldn't help but stare. Barney had definitely been working out. He always had a nice body but he was now more defined than ever. You could see each muscle that made up his chest and abs. Robin wanted nothing more than to walk up to Barney and run her hands down the length of his body. She just wanted to be wrapped in his arms and rest her head against his amazingly fit chest. She didn't know how long she was staring but her thoughts were interrupted when she heard Barney calling her name. "Robin? Robin, do you like this one?"

"What? Oh yeah, I do. I think you should get it." Robin was still at a loss for words and had to gather her thoughts.

"Okay then. Let me try on the rest." Barney tried on four more bathing suits, Ellie's pink one included before he settled on a red and black bathing suit, and the purple and white one that had Robin drooling over him. Robin now knew one thing for sure, she couldn't wait for Hawaii.


	16. Chapter 16

**Okay so this might be the last update for a little while. Not to long, I'm thinking about a week, but I usually like to get an update out everyday so I feel bad! The reason I was able to update so often was because I wrote a few chapters before I started to post them but now I am all caught up and I have a busy week ahead of me. I promise I will be back though because everybody's kind words about my writing mean so much to me! I really appreciate everybody who takes the time to read my version of these characters. Thank you all so much and I hope you enjoy this new chapter:)**

Ch.16

It was now early Saturday morning, just a couple of hours before they were due to leave for Hawaii. The whole gang was planning to meet at JFK airport at 12:00 noon. Robin was getting the last of her things together before she had to leave. She and Barney made plans to take a cab together. Robin had to admit that she was really looking forward to this trip. It had been awhile since she got to spend more than a few hours with her friends and she was excited to get the chance to make more memories with them. Robin ran around for a few more hours just to make sure everything was set for her to leave. She dropped a key off at her neighbors so they could water her houseplants and made sure that they would also get her mail. It was 11:15 when Robin arrived at Barney's apartment. She left her bags in the cab and ran up to Barney's apartment so she could help with his and Ellie's bags. As she approached Barney's apartment she could hear music coming from inside. She recognized it right away, he was listening to his get psyched mix. You Give Love a Bad Name by Bon Jovi was playing when she knocked on the door.

"Oh hey Robin, come on in!" Barney leaned in to greet Robin with a kiss. "Are you excited or what?!"

"Yeah I'm pumped! I guess I don't have to ask you the same." At this moment Ellie saw Robin and ran over to her, practically jumping into her arms to greet her.

"Hey Ellie. Are you excited to go to Hawaii?"

"Yeah, daddy said I can go swimming there."

"You sure can. That should be fun right?"

"Well actually I told Ellie I would teach her to swim. She doesn't know how yet." Barney said excitedly.

"Oh cool Ellie. Swimming is a lot of fun. You're going to love it." Robin said to Ellie, seeing the excitement in her eyes. "But Barney we really need to go. I left the meter running."

"Okay then lets do it. Ellie grab your bag, were leaving now okay." Ellie walked over to a duffel bag and picked it up, despite it being almost as big as her. "Robin, do you think you can grab her suitcase, that's just my carryon she's got there."

"Yeah sure." Robin walked over to Ellie's suitcase and picked it up easily, due to the fact that it was so small. After Barney locked up the apartment, the trio went down to the cab where they loaded the bags into the trunk. They had about a half hour cab ride before they arrived at the airport, where they immediately found Ted, Tracey, Penny and Luke. Greetings and hugs were given before Barney and Robin checked their bags. Soon Marshall, Lily, Marvin, Daisy and Aubrey showed up and the whole gang was together. Robin expected questions from the gang about her and Barney as soon as they showed up but she got none. Usually her friends pried for information on everything so this came as a shock to her. When they were on the security line Robin pulled Lily aside.

"Lil, did you tell anyone about me and Barney? Everyone seems clueless to it."

"Well that's because they are. I saw how important it was that it was kept a secret so I didn't tell anyone, not even Marshall. Do you know how hard that was for me?"

"Oh thank you so much Lily, you're the best! But don't worry; you wont have to keep the secret much longer. Barney and I were planning to tell everybody this week any way. We figured we wouldn't be able to hide it while we are all in such close quarters."

"Good because I feel like I'm going to explode with this secret any minute."

"Just a couple more hours, I promise." When the crew finally made it through security, it was just about time to board the plane. Robin got to sit with Barney and Ellie, of course giving Ellie the window seat due to the fact it was her first time on a plane. Ted, Tracy and Lily sat together letting Marvin, Daisy and Penny sit with each other. Marshall was stuck watching Aubrey and Luke by himself. At realizing this, Marshall turned around to Ted.

"Hey Ted, this is you on the way home buddy. So enjoy it while it lasts."

Ted just laughed before saying, "Okay Marshall, if you say so."

It was about 15 minutes before the plane started moving. All of the kids got very excited, especially Ellie, Penny and Luke who had all never been on a plane before. Ellie kept her focus out the window while Barney kept his focus on Ellie. He watched how excited she got and that made him feel like the happiest man on the planet. Robin watched Barney as he smiled at his daughter. She never thought that she would fall for a man with a kid but he was making it hard for her not to. Robin had been on a plane with Barney many times before but this time was different. She could feel that he was as excited as her to go away this time. She could also sense the unease that Barney had at being on a plane. He was never really too fond of flying. He always got nervous right before take off and despite how content he seemed looking at Ellie, Robin could also see that the fear wasn't completely gone. She looked down and saw him gripping the armrest with white knuckles and very sneakily put her hand on top of his. She rubbed the top of his hand with her thumb until she could physically see Barney relax. Barney then turned to Robin, blue met blue as their eyes found each other and then he leaned in and whispered in her ear,

"I know I've got nothing to worry about, I got you."


	17. Chapter 17

Ch.17

When the gang finally landed they were exhausted, to say the least. It was a 12-hour plane ride but a 6-hour time difference, which put them on the ground right around 8:00pm. The kids were all cranky, not having eaten. They all agreed that dinner would be the first thing they did once they got settled into the hotel. First they just needed to get their bags and then find a shuttle to take them to the hotel. Once that was done they all got their room keys and went off to their rooms to drop their bags off.

"Okay, room 205 for the Mosbys, 206 for the Eriksons and 207 for the Stinsons. Room 206 has one king bed and one queen been and room 205 and 207 have two queen beds. You guys are all set. Enjoy your stay." The receptionist handed the keys out and everyone went to go find their rooms.

"So how about we just drop our bags inside, freshen up and meet in the hotel lobby in about 15 minutes. Is that good with everybody?" Tracey was trying to get a plan going so everyone was on the same page. Everybody in the group nodded their heads in agreement and ducked into their respective rooms. As soon as Barney and Robin entered the room they explored to see what it had to offer. There was one bathroom, with a Jacuzzi tub along with all the other bathroom essentials, a small kitchen area and a couple of closets so they could hang their clothes. There was also sliding doors to separate the beds, which made this more like a suite than a room. They had to admit, this was a pretty nice hotel.

"Ellie, do you want to change into shorts so you're not hot?" Barney asked his fidgety four year old. He could see that she was agitated, probably from lack of sleep and hunger. She just nodded her head and rubbed her eyes as she walked over to Barney. He put her suitcase down on one of the beds and dug through it for a pair of her shorts. He quickly changed her clothes before he picked something for himself to change into. He had decided to travel in a suit, of course, but the sticky Hawaii air immediately forced him to change. He picked a pair of tan cargo shorts and a polo shirt. Robin changed also into a pair of shorts before they left to go meet the rest of the gang in the lobby.

"So what do you say? We tell them tonight at dinner?" Robin was kind of eager to tell the gang now that they were actually in Hawaii.

"Yeah, lets do it!" Barney reached down and grabbed Robin's hand as he closed the door behind him. He realized quickly that Ellie was begrudgingly dragging her feet next to him, almost to tired to walk herself. Barney let go of Robin's hand to pick up Ellie, but once he had her situated he grabbed her hand once more.

"Lets take bets on who notices we are holding hands first. I bet its Tracey. She's got an eye for this stuff." Barney said with a smirk.

"No way, it's definitely going to be Marshall. He's going to see us together and get so excited that he will put all those little tweens obsessed with Beiber to shame."

"You're on Scherbatsky. And ready for the best part? Remember those braids you got back in 2006 when you came back from Argentina with _Gael_…." Barney shuddered when he said Gael's name,"… and the braids I got on our honeymoon in Belize?"

"Yeah, what about them?"

"Whoever loses has to get those again. And although we may have rocked them back in the day, I guarantee they won't look nearly as good on 49 year old me and 45 year old you."

"Speak for yourself Barney, I could still pull that off. But it won't matter because you will be the one wearing them again. You're on." Barney and Robin continued to make their journey to the lobby, Barney with Ellie in hand, and realized as they approached that they were the last ones there. As they got closer Barney's grip on Robin's hand got tighter, she suspected because he was excited to see who would win the bet. Once they were in visual distance of the rest of the gang, they noticed the shocked expressions on their faces, especially Ted. He made the most confused face and just pointed at their conjoined hands, rendered speechless. It wasn't until Marshall spoke up, like Robin had expected, that the silence was broken.

"You guys are holding hands? Why are you holding hands, Barney why are you holding her hand? Does this mean what I think it means?" Marshall was getting hyper with curiosity.

"Well what do you think it means?" Barney asked, playing dumb.

"THEY'RE BACK TOGETHER PEEPS! WOOO!" Lily shouted with excitement.

"Really Lily, you couldn't even let us say it?" Robin said, giving Lily a dirty, but harmless look.

"Wait, are you guys really back together? And did you tell Lily and not tell the rest of us?" Ted asked, seeming somewhat offended that he wasn't told.

"Let me just start off first by saying, I TOLD YOU SO! You need to get your hair braided and it will be at the earliest possible convenience!" Robin said as she turned to Barney, laughing in his face. "Second, Barney and I did decide to give this another shot. And we didn't tell you guys because we wanted to see where it was going first. Also, we didn't tell Lily she found out for herself. She was always good at that."

"You're damn right." Lily said as she high fived Robin.

"I knew you too were acting to casual about being around each other. Usually with you two we can see the claws come out." Ted said, finally understanding the comfort he seldom saw with Robin and Barney anymore.

"Well I'm happy for you guys. I always liked you two together, even though the only versions of you that I ever knew was when you were together and happy with each or divorced and awkward with each other." Tracey said with a smile.

"We appreciate you guys supporting us. We know how opinionated you all can be so thanks for understanding this." Barney said to his best friends.

"Well let's not stand around here anymore, it is 9:00pm and I am starving!" Robin said as she felt her stomach rumble. The gang all agreed and found a nice restaurant to eat at. By the time they got there Ellie had fallen asleep in Barney's arms. He wanted her to eat but figured it be better to just let her sleep. He put her in a high chair and she fell back asleep almost immediately. Once they all had their food ordered conversation began to flow just like old times.

"Oh god, remember your tramp stamp Ted. The little butterfly on your back. Classic." Barney had made the decision that he was going to try and embarrass Ted as much as possible on this trip. It had been awhile since they ripped on Ted so he figured, why not.

"Yes Barney I remember. Not one of the smartest things I have done."

"No definitely not. But you've done worse. Remember when you told Robin you loved her after only a couple hours into the date. That's priceless. You just, you can't make this stuff up."

"God Barney, what is this pick on Ted day. All that stuff adds to his charm." Marshall decided to defend Ted, in what was clearly being done on purpose.

"Yes Marshall, as a matter of fact it is. Thanks for noticing."

"Barney, I am not embarrassed of saying I love you to Robin on the first date. Me doing that led to us dating, us breaking up, me getting that tramp stamp, me meeting Stella, proposing to Stella and getting left at the alter by Stella, Tony feeling bad that he took Stella from me so he gave me a job teaching, me dating Cindy, me breaking up with Cindy, you falling in love with Robin, Robin falling in love with you, you proposing to Robin, me booking a wedding band, that wedding band cancelling, Cindy helping me get Tracey's band for the wedding and then me meeting Tracey. And now I am happier than I have ever been. And, I hope you heard all that kids because that's how I met your mother, and that's just the short version. If you didn't that's okay, I'll tell you the whole thing one day."

"Oh god that was just the short version. My ears are bleeding." Barney said with mock boredom. "Ted, Ted right here." Barney was pointing back and forth between his eyes and Ted's. "Ted, this week I am going to teach you how to re-live."

"Re-live?" Ted asked curiously.

"Yes, re-live. All of the stuff we did in the past, it was great! Since then you have gotten old and boring. I am going to make sure that this week you get in touch with your inner love-crazed, spontaneous, destiny believing, if slightly badly dressed, younger self."

"Barney, I don't need to get in touch with my inner younger self. I'm happy right where I am."

"But Ted, just, okay? This week we are going to live like we are 30 again! The sky is the limit my friend!"

"Barney, when you were 30 you hit on a 15 different girls every night and slept with these girls 83% of the time. Since you have a girlfriend and she's sitting right next to you, I think its pretty fair to say that we will not be living how we did when we were in our 30's."

"You are no fun Ted. I guess I'll just have to replace you. Hey Marshall…"

"No." Marshall said before Barney even finished his sentence.

"Hey Robin, want to live like we are 30 again?"

"As great as that sounds, and believe me it does, I have to agree with Ted and Marshall on this one. If we even try to do half the things we did when we were 30 we would probably get ourselves killed. You all have kids now, think about that before you do something stupid."

"I guess you're right." Barney looked over at Ellie and smiled as he said this, knowing that he had to put Ellie before anything else.

"Well if I count as anything, and I really hope I do, then I'll be 30 again with you Barney. I didn't know you back then and I'd like to see what I missed." Tracey said, mainly just to make Barney happy but also because she was curious about what kind of things he would do to feel 30 again.

"Awesome! We start tomorrow, with a braiding session I believe." Barney turned to Robin and winked. The rest of the night went by pretty quick, because of how late it was. Ellie woke up for a little during dinner, only to eat some of Barney's fruit before falling back asleep. It was around 11:30 when everyone made it back to their hotel rooms. Ellie was asleep in Barney's arms. He tried to change her into pajamas without waking her, he was semi successful. By the time Barney got Ellie changed, Robin had slipped into her pajamas. Barney put Ellie in one of the two beds before he stripped down to his underwear and climbed into the opposite bed.

"Wait, I thought you were going to share a bed with Ellie." Robin said as she noticed both beds being occupied.

"You didn't think I was serious when I told the gang that did you?"

"Well kind of yeah, not only for the gang to hear but also for Ellie's sake."

"She doesn't know the difference if you sleep in my bed or not." Barney pulled the covers down and patted the bed next to him. Robin smiled and climbed in, leaning into Barney as he pulled the covers over them. Lying next to Barney like this brought back the feeling of safety that had left her when Barney did. Robin had missed this. Just when Robin was starting to doze off, she felt Barney place a kiss on the top of her head and whisper 'I love you Robin'. Robin turned to face him but when she did he was already asleep. She studied his face as he drifted away into a dreamland. She couldn't believe she had ever given him up.

"I love you too." She whispered before gently falling asleep.


	18. Chapter 18

Ch.18

Robin woke up the next morning to the sound of Ellie yelling 'daddy' as she jumped up and down on the edge of the bed. Robin opened her eyes and saw Ellie leap from the edge of the bed onto Barney. If he wasn't awake before, he definitely was now. Ellie landed directly on top of Barney and he jolted up with a sound that can only be described as the sound of someone who just got a knee to the groin.

"AHHHH. God Ellie, you can't do that. You hurt daddy." Barney said in a voice an octave higher than normal.

"Morning daddy." Ellie said as she crawled up Barney and placed a kiss on his cheek. She then turned to Robin and traveled the short distance between her and Barney.

"Morning Robin." Ellie then placed a kiss on Robin's cheek just as she had done to Barney.

"Good morning sweetie. How did you sleep?" Robin said, deciding that she should be the one to greet Ellie this morning since it seemed Barney was still in pain.

"Good, I'm hungry." Ellie said, immediately pointing out her hunger, probably due to the fact that she had eaten practically nothing in the past 24 hours.

"Okay well we can get some breakfast. What time is it?" Robin asked more to herself as she looked at the clock on the bedside table. It was 7:17 in the morning. "Wow, it's early. We have to get in touch with everyone else before we can eat okay. It might be a little while. Barney, do you think the others are up yet?"

"Maybe, Ted was always one for getting up early so he might be up. I'll shoot him a text." Barney reached over to get his phone to text Ted. _Hey Ted, just wondering if you guys are up yet, also wanted to know what you guys want to do for breakfast._

"I'll be right back, I'm going to put some pants on." Barney said to Robin with a smile. Before he got up though he pulled Ellie to him and attacked her with kisses. Ellie got a kick out of this and hysterically laughed as he did so. He then leaned over to Robin and kissed her before getting up and going to the bathroom. While he was in the bathroom his phone vibrated. Robin picked it up and saw a text from Ted.

_Hey buddy, were up over here. I tried to text Lily and Marshall and think they may still be sleeping. We'll wait until 8:00 and if they're not up well get them. And as for breakfast I think there are places at the hotel we can go, buffets and things like that._

Just as Robin finished reading the text Barney walked back into the room.

"Hey Ted texted you back, they're awake but Lily and Marshall are still sleeping."

"Okay, I guess breakfast will be later then. Do you know what we are doing today?"

"No actually, probably just hanging by the pool and beach. We can explore the resort a little bit."

"That sounds great to me. I need to get my tan on." Barney said as he looked at his white chest. "Ellie why don't we get you ready for breakfast. Do you want to go pick out your outfit?"

"Yeah!" Ellie said as she ran to her suitcase. She started pulling clothes out and making a mess. She eventually picked a shirt she wanted to wear but failed to pick any shorts.

"Here, let me help you baby."

"No!" Ellie said as she pulled away from Barney.

"No? I always help you pick your clothes out."

"No, I want Robin." Upon hearing her name Robin looked down at Ellie with a dumbfounded look.

"You want me?" Ellie just nodded her head. "Okay then." Robin stood from the bed and made her way over to Ellie. "What do you need help with?" Robin saw Ellie holding the shirt but no shorts. "Do you need help with your shorts?"

"Yeah." Robin started to go through Ellie's bag and found a pair of shorts to go with the shirt she had picked out.

"Robin, she doesn't normally get dressed by herself so she probably wants you to physically dress her too." Barney said, reveling in the fact that a child liked Robin. He just sat on the edge of the bed, watching the two girls who meant more to him than anything else in the world interacting. It actually got Barney choked up a bit and he had to clear his throat to make sure that he didn't let his emotions show. As he watched Robin dress Ellie he realized that there was no way he was letting her get away again. He loved her more than anything and that never changed. Even when they split he knew he wasn't, nor would he ever be, completely over Robin. He would love her for the rest of his days if it killed him, and he hoped she felt the same way.

"There you go Ellie, all dressed for breakfast. How did I do?"

"Thank you." Ellie said as she hugged Robin and bounced away.

"That was impressive Scherbatsky. Is it possible that you actually found a child who likes you and who you like back?"

"Like? Barney, I love Ellie. How could I not, she is a little you. I know she is only 4 years old but I can tell she is going to grow up to be an amazing young lady and make you proud."

"Robin, you honestly don't know how much that means for me to hear you say that." Barney got up from the bed and walked towards Robin who was still kneeling on the floor by Ellie's suitcase. He put his hands out for her to take and helped her get up from the floor. Once she was standing he pulled her towards him and wrapped her in his arms. He rested his forehead against hers as he said, "I love you, you know that right. I never stopped loving you and I can't believe how lucky I am to have you back in my life again, and how lucky Ellie is. She needed a woman in her life and I'm so happy that its you."

"I love you too, but I think I am the lucky one here. I was starting to believe that my life was turning into the exact opposite of what I wanted it to be. I had nobody in my life that I cared about. Everyday after work I would go back to my hotel room in whatever country I was in and just sulk. I was so lonely, but you and Ellie turned that around for me. You made me see the light in my life again and I am so thankful for that." Barney had no words to respond with so instead he just kissed her. He put every emotion he had felt for the past 8 years since the divorce into this kiss. The passion behind their kiss practically brought tears to Robin's eyes. She couldn't believe how much she loved this guy. She didn't want to let go, ever. But unfortunately she did, only after her and Barney heard Ellie say 'EWWW' from the small kitchen table she was sitting at. Barney and Robin pulled apart and just laughed.

"Ellie, get your toothbrush okay. We're going to go brush your teeth." Barney said to distract Ellie from what she just saw. Ellie ran to get her toothbrush and then pulled Barney by his hand into the bathroom. As Robin saw the two of them walk away hand in hand, she couldn't help but think that this was exactly where she was suppose to be, with her family.


	19. Chapter 19

**Sorry I have not been updating as often! I have been very busy with school and the fact that the sims 4 just came out on the mac isn't helping! Haha:) I will try to keep these chapters coming as often as possible, and as always thank you to everyone for reading my story and saying such nice things! It really means a lot!**

Ch.19

When they finally made it down to breakfast it was around 9:00. Robin, Ted and Barney took it upon themselves to wake Marshall and Lily at 8:00 with the extra key Ted and Tracey had to their room. It wasn't enough just to wake them up; they of course needed to think of a funny, creative way to do so. The three kids were sleeping in the king bed, which was separated from Lily and Marshall by the sliding doors. Barney and Robin thought it would be a funny idea if they climbed into bed with Marshall and Lily. There was just enough room for Robin to slip in between them and for Barney to lie on the end next to Marshall. Once they were situated in bed with them, Ted softly shook Marshall on the shoulder. When he finally started to wake up and open his eyes, he immediately saw Barney's face in his. He let out a small scream and pushed Barney completely off the bed. He then turned to face Lily and was surprised again to see Robin. He let out another scream before stumbling backwards out of the bed and falling off on top of Barney. Ted, Barney and Robin could not control their laughter. Lily woke up confused but not scared to see Robin like Marshall was.

"What is going on? Robin why are you in my bed?" Lily said upon awakening.

"We were trying to mess with you and Marshall. It looks like it worked." Robin said through laughter. It was then that Marshall's head popped up from the side of the bed.

"That was not funny guys. I practically just squished Barney to death. I'm like three times his size." Marshall said as he stood up from the floor.

"Oh come on Marshall, you should have seen the look on your face." Ted said as he leant out a hand to help Marshall get up. "You okay Barney?" Ted looked down to see Barney sprawled out on the floor.

"Barely. That was not part of the plan." Barney said through gritted teeth as he shook off the pain of Marshall landing on him. Ted helped Barney get up before letting Marshall and Lily know what they were actually doing.

"You guys are the last ones up. We are going to get some breakfast so as soon as you guys are ready let us know and we can leave."

"Okay, please leave so we can get dressed." Lily said, remembering all too well how intrusive her friends were.

When they finally made it to breakfast they decided on an outdoor breakfast buffet. During breakfast they discussed what they would do for the day. They decided on hanging by the pool and beach. They had all week to do excursions and figured they might as well explore the resort before venturing out too far.

"So everyone is okay with that? Just a relaxing day by the pool?" Tracey said to the gang at the table. They all nodded in agreement while eating their amazing breakfast. "Okay good, so after breakfast we can all get changed and ready for the day."

The gang continued to eat their breakfast and enjoyed every bite of it. Ellie must have been hungry because she ate almost as much as Marvin who was a 12 year old boy. Once they all finished up everyone headed back to their respective rooms to change into their bathing suits. Robin helped Ellie change into hers and had to admit, she had never seen anything cuter than Ellie in her little bathing suit, and she had never seen anything hotter than Barney in his. Barney walked out of the bathroom in just his bathing suit, showing off his toned body. He was holding a bottle of sunscreen, prepared to put some on Ellie.

"Ellie, baby come here. I need to put some sunscreen on you." Barney said as he walked towards Ellie.

"No, I don't like it." Ellie said, refusing to go to Barney.

"Yeah but you need it. Do you want to get sunburned?" Barney kneeled down to Ellie's height and opened to sunblock. Ellie saw him do this and freaked out. She screamed really loud and ran from Barney. "Ellie, were not playing games today, let me put this on you." Barney stood up and walked towards Ellie again. This time she screamed but she didn't run. Barney started to put sunscreen on her arms and Ellie tried to pull her arms away, crying. "Ellie, I'm serious calm down. You need to put sunscreen on. If you don't you will sit in this room all day by yourself while all of your cousins are swimming in the pool. Is that what you want?" Ellie shook her head and put her arms out to Barney. "There we go, good girl." Barney lathered Ellie in sunblock before throwing the bottle in a bag he was packing to bring down to the pool. It had towels, snacks and clothes to change into, along with some pool toys for Ellie.

"Barney do you need some sunblock? You're going to get fried." Robin said as she looked at Barney's white skin.

"I'm going to lay out for a little bit but once we get down there I will put some on."

"Okay, and don't forget, you need to get braids today." Robin said smiling.

"Believe me, I didn't forget." Barney said mockingly annoyed. When Barney, Ellie and Robin where ready they made there way down to the pool. Marshall and Lily were there with their kids already but Ted and Tracey were not. Robin and Barney claimed lounge chairs next to Marshall and Lily. Ellie immediately wanted to go in the pool.

"Pool!" Ellie yelled as she ran up to Barney.

"Okay, you need your vest though." Barney dug through his bag and pulled out a life vest for Ellie. He strapped her in and sent her on her way to go swimming with Marvin, Daisy and Aubrey. Aubrey was also wearing a life vest because she could not swim. Soon just Marshall, Lily, Barney and Robin were left to themselves.

"So, how have you two been? Was it like picking up where you left off or does this feel new to you?" Lily asked Barney and Robin.

"Honestly, it's a little of both. When Barney and I are together its like nothing has changed. I feel like I am a kid again with the love of my life, but on the same token, it all feels new. Barney's a dad now so there is a different dynamic to everything. But I really love that side of him." Robin said as she turned to look at Barney. She reached out for his hand and gave him a big smile.

"I agree. Things are obviously different but I feel like I did when I was 35, falling in love with her."

"Awe you guys are so cute. And I can only imagine all the crazy places you have been doing it, making up for lost time and stuff." Marshall said with a huge grin on his face. Barney and Robin just looked at each other with a small smile and a non-convincing laugh. Marshall caught on and immediately started to question them. "Wait, what was that look? You guys have been having crazy sex right? That's just what you two do, it's like your thing, especially Barney."

"Actually, we haven't really slept together since we got back together." Robin said, seemingly ashamed.

"What? You have been together for weeks now, how have you not slept together?"

"Well it's hard to do when every time we are together we have Ellie with us. I love her more than anything, she is my daughter, but she kind of gets in the way of things. Plus Robin has to leave for work by 10:30 every night so even when Ellie is sleeping Robin is working. It just doesn't work to well." Barney explained. At this point Ted and Tracey walked into the pool area with the kids. Penny and Luke immediately went to the pool, Luke with his swimmies on, and Ted and Tracey settled into lounge chairs.

"Hey, whatcha talking about?" Ted asked as he took off his shirt to lay out.

"Barney and Robin haven't slept together since they got back together. That's like, unheard of." Marshall said, filling in Ted and Tracey of what they missed.

"Wow, that must be hard for you Barney. You have sex on a regular basis." Ted said laughing.

"Well not recently. The last time I had sex was a little more than a year ago. You guys remember Angie right?" Barney said, referencing the only woman he had been with since Ellie was born. The whole gang nodded their head except for Robin.

"Who is Angie?" Robin asked.

"Oh she was just someone I dated for about a year after Ellie was born. Ellie had just turned two when we started dating and we broke up right before she turned three." Barney explained.

"How come I haven't heard of Angie before?" Robin asked somewhat offended.

"Its just not something that I thought you would want to know about. What does it matter anyway, it didn't work out and I haven't talked to her in over a year."

"I just find it strange that you didn't tell me, that's all."

"Just drop it Robin, okay. Its over with now, I'm with you and I couldn't be happier." Robin decided to let the whole Angie thing go but she couldn't help but feel there was more to the story. There was an awkward silence amongst the group but it was broken by Lily.

"Well, if you guys want a night alone to 'consummate' your relationship then we can take Ellie tonight. They have an arcade that we were going to take the kids to. We can take Ellie with us." Lily offered.

"Lily that would be awesome. Thank you!" Barney said, he then turned to Robin and shrugged his eyebrows, "I guess that means I have you all to myself tonight. This is going to be legen-wait for it-dary, legendary!" Robin and Barney just smiled at each other as they looked forward to the night to come.


	20. Chapter 20

**Okay so this chapter is kind of short and also kind of a filler chapter but its fun so I hope you all like it:) Thank you again for all the feedback!**

Ch. 20

After a long day at the pool, beach, and hair braiding stand on the beach, the gang headed back to their respective rooms to get ready for dinner. Once Barney, Robin and Ellie got back to the room, Barney realized how sandy Ellie was. He quickly drew a bath for Ellie so she could wash up.

"Ellie, its bath time. Come in here." Barney yelled from the bathroom. A couple seconds later Ellie came running into the bathroom with her blonde curls bouncing and a huge smile on her face. She may have been one of the few toddlers who enjoyed taking baths. He picked up Ellie and placed her into the bathtub after taking her bathing suit off. He sat on the edge of the Jacuzzi tub with his legs in the water as he poured water over Ellie's head and scrubbed shampoo into her hair. Robin came into the bathroom a few minutes later, still in her bathing suit, carrying hers, Barney's and Ellie's towels from earlier in the day.

"What's going on in here? You didn't invite me to the party?" Robin said as she entered the bathroom.

"I don't know if I would call this a party, but you're more than welcome to join." Barney said, scootching over so Robin could sit next to him. She placed her legs in the water as she sat down next to Barney.

"So did you have fun today Ellie?" Robin asked.

"Yeah! I like the beach."

"I can tell, you have sand everywhere." Robin said as she wiped some of the sand off of Ellie's face. Barney then turned on the water to rinse Ellie's hair. As he rinsed he noticed Robin staring at him. He looked over at her before asking 'What?'

"Nothing, its just I think your new hairstyle really suits you." Robin said through giggles. "What do you think Ellie? Do you like your daddy's hair?"

"Yeah!" Ellie said laughing.

"Ha-ha, very funny. Quit mocking me Scherbatsky. You'll get yours, you just wait and see." Barney said with a grin.

"I'll get mine? What are you going to do, chop all my hair off?" Robin joked.

"Oh you think you're funny? Well take this." Barney started spraying Robin with the faucet. She just shrieked and froze solid while Barney and Ellie laughed at her. "How do you like that Scherbatsky!"

"What the hell man! Not funny." Robin said, wiping the water off of her face.

"Really, cause' I think its hilarious!" Barney said with an evil laugh.

"Oh yeah, how funny is it now?" Robin said as she reached into the bathtub and splashed Barney with a huge amount of water. Ellie then stood in the bathtub and started kicking water at Barney and Robin who just laughed and tried to take cover.

"WATER FIGHT!" Barney said as he took the bath faucet and started spraying Robin some more. Ellie continued to laugh and kick while Robin kept reaching into the tub to splash. When she realized her method was not nearly as effective as Barney's, she stood from the tub and went up behind Barney, ready to push him into the tub. Instead she slipped on the wet floor and reached out to Barney for support. She accidentally pulled him back and he fell back off of the edge of the tub and tumbled onto the floor with Robin. The both of them just lay their laughing as the bathroom continued to get soaked.

"God, we sure made a mess." Barney said as he looked over at Robin.

"No sir, you sure made a mess. I didn't start this."

"You started this when you made me get my hair braided so in your face!" Barney said through a laughing fit. As they both lay their laughing Barney rolled over to face Robin completely and gave her a forgiving kiss. "I love you Robin, now help me clean this up." Barney said as he started to stand from the floor.

"Oh real smooth Barney. I'm going to help but its not because I love you or you love me, its because I don't want little Ellie slipping on the mess you made." Robin said as she went to the cabinet to get some towels. Barney got Ellie out of the bathtub and wrapped a clean towel around her. He then grabbed another one that he used to dry the floor. As much fun as he just had with Robin and Ellie in the Jacuzzi tub, Barney was pretty sure it wouldn't compare to the fun just he and Robin would have that night in the Jacuzzi tub. It was going to be 100% awesome and he knew it.


	21. Chapter 21

**So I didn't really want to go here with this story but I just felt like I wasn't progressing. It needed to go somewhere because I felt like I was writing in circles, so I apologize if this chapter seems rushed but I felt like I needed to do something! Thank you all for your support and I hope you enjoy!**

Ch.21

The gang all got together for dinner at a nice place on the resort. Everybody was in good spirits as they all enjoyed each others company. Especially Barney and Robin. They had made big plans for that night and were looking forward to some time alone. After they all ate dinner Barney passed Ellie of to Lily.

"Okay so if you need anything call me. She gets cranky when she is hungry and tired, like most people duh, and she might give you a hard time. If she does just ignore her until she gives in. That usually works. What else, uhm…"

"Barney calm down. I can take perfectly good care of her. I have three kids and they all turned out fine." Lily explained

"Okay Lil, you keep telling yourself that." Barney said in a joking voice as he patted her on the back. "I am the child raising master so take the tips while you can get them, they wont be free next time." Lily just rolled her eyes at Barney being his typical self as Marshall walked over. He picked up Ellie as he said to her,

"Hey El! Are you excited for a night with Aunt Lily, Uncle Marshall and all your cousins, and to get away from crazy daddy?" Marshall whispered that last part and made Ellie laugh.

"I'm starting to think this isn't such a great idea." Barney said sounding defeated.

"Barney, Lily and Marshall are more than capable of watching her for the night. Relax, it's going to be fine." Robin said as she rubbed his back. Like always, Robin's words put Barney at ease right away. The gang said their goodnights to each other before Barney and Robin went their separate ways for the rest of the night.

"So, although it is tempting to run straight back to the room and get busy, whadup, I kind of have another idea. Come with me." Barney put his hand out to Robin, who immediately reached back. They walked hand in hand as Barney explained that he wanted tonight to be a night they would remember forever. They walked for another minute or so before they walked outside into the crisp, but not cold, night air.

"Okay, just a little more." Barney led Robin away from the resort and into the trees on the shoreline. About 50 feet into the trees there was a small clearing, and in the middle was a table set for two. There were tiki torches surrounding the clearing and rose petals scattered all over the place. Also in the small clearing were four men dressed in suits playing different instruments, the sounds of which sent chills up Robin's spine.

"Here we are." Barney said upon arrival.

"Barney what is all of this?" Robin said in awe.

"It's just a little something for us to enjoy. Some desserts and champagne never hurt anyone."

"This is amazing Barney, you didn't have to get this all set up."

"It's just what I do Robin, I love surprising you, you know that." Barney said referring to all of the surprises he had given her in the past. He put his hand on the small of her back and led her to the table. She sat down and Barney took the bottle of champagne and poured her a glass before sitting.

"Thank you good sir." Robin said as she raised the glass to her lips, but before she could take a sip Barney stopped her.

"Wait, I want to make a little toast first." Barney picked up his glass before speaking, "19 years ago I was a broken man, but I didn't know it. I was constantly trying to find ways to make me feel alive. I thought that was just because I was awesome, which I totally am, but I didn't realize that it was mostly because I was lost. I was unknowingly searching for the one person who could make me feel alive more than any lame activity ever would. It wasn't until I met you that I realized that that was possible for me. At first, I thought I was just attracted to you because you had boobs and a vagina and that's just how I rolled, but it was more than that. I wanted to be with you even when it wasn't about sex, but just being with you. After awhile I admitted to myself that you meant more to me than I was letting on. It scared the hell out of me so I didn't do anything about it for a while, but once we started dating that first time I knew I could never let you go, and I did, which I regretted doing everyday after that. Things were complicated between us for a while but eventually I realized that the only person who loved me unconditionally and who I loved back equally as much plus more was you. So we got married. We had a few good years but ultimately we wound up leaving each other, which again, I regretted, everyday after. We obviously began seeing each other less and less, and every time I did see you I just wanted to beat myself up for letting you go, but now here we are. For some reason we keep finding our way back to each other. It's like one minute the universe is telling us to break up and the other it's telling us to be in love. Well, you know what, I'm not listening to the universe anymore, because I know deep down that you and I are meant to be together. I am never more happy than when I am with you, and yeah we have hit some bumps in the road but that doesn't mean that I ever stopped loving you, if anything it makes me love you more because I can appreciate all of the good times. I guess what I am trying to say is that I love you so much Robin Scherbatsky and this time I am not letting you get away." At this point Barney stood from his place at the table and put his hand in his pocket.

"Barney what are you doing?" Robin asked as her heart rate quickened. Barney just grinned as he walked closer to Robin.

"You see Robin, because of you I have come to learn that all of the little moments are just as important as the big, planned out moments. And then I saw today's date, May 26th. That's when I realized it had been exactly 11 years since we had gotten married. It reminded me of how great things were. This morning when I woke up I did not see this being where the day was going, but when I saw you with Ellie I just knew."

"Knew what Barney?" Robin said, starting to realize where Barney was going with this. Barney just smiled at Robin as he got down on one knee. He then pulled a small box out of his pocket and opened it, showing Robin what was inside. Her heart dropped.

"Robin Scherbatsky, will you marry me?"


	22. Chapter 22

Ch.22

Robin sat staring at Barney for what seemed like an eternity. A million thoughts raced through her head as she thought about what was happening.

"You-you want me to marry you? Barney we have only been dating for a month." Robin said, trying to wrap her head around how fast things were moving.

"Well actually we have been dating for over 3 and a half years, if you count all of the time before this, which of course I do." Barney recognized the look on Robin's face as confusion and hard thinking. He stood from his position and crouched down right in front of Robin, grabbing both of her hands in her lap and looking up at her. "Robin, I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I know you want the same thing, this is what we have wanted for the past 11 years now and it just couldn't work because of circumstance but there is no reason it can't work now. I will do everything in my power to make sure that this time we get the happy ending we deserve together. Don't overthink this. Just feel what you want to feel." Barney said as Robin continued to think. She did know that she wanted to be with Barney forever, but it just came up on her so quick. All of a sudden her life could be changing forever, she could be becoming a mother. But she would be becoming a mother to a child she loved put in this world by a man that she has loved for over a decade. What was she doing questioning this. It was a no brainer.

"Yes! Yes, lets get married!" Robin said with tears in her eyes. She leaned down and grabbed Barney's face, planting a huge kiss on him. Barney slipped the ring on to Robin's finger. Robin looked down at it and noticed something.

"Barney, is this my old engagement ring?"

"Yeah, it is. But look." Barney took the ring off of her finger and showed her inside the band. There was a small engraving that said _Legendmarried._ "I thought it could use a little something. It's a symbol. The old ring symbolizes our history together and the engraving shows how new things are always welcome. There is room for change and that is a good thing." He said with a smile.

"Oh my god Barney I love it!" Robin leaned down and kissed him again. When she pulled away she had another confused look on her face. "Wait, so if you didn't know you were going to propose to me today, why do you have this ring and when did you get it engraved?"

"When we got divorced and you gave me the ring back, I kept it with me at all times. I put it in my little hankie pocket everyday so it was always with me, and in a way it made me feel like you were always with me. Once Ellie was born I would forget sometimes, especially because I wore suits less with her and therefore no hankie pocket, but once we started dating about a month ago I made sure it was with me everyday. So I had it with me here and once I realized that I wanted to ask you to marry me I went with Ted to a jeweler a little ways off the resort to get it engraved."

"You did that today? I was with you the whole day, how did you do that?" Robin asked, confused.

"You fell asleep on the beach for about an hour and a half. We went then. When you woke up we had Lily tell you we went to get a couple drinks."

"So everybody else knows that this is happening tonight?"

"No, just Ted. We actually told Lily we were getting drinks. You know you can't trust her with a secret." Barney said with a small grin.

"Oh my god Barney this is amazing. So, we are really doing this again. We're getting married." Robin said as it finally hit her.

"Yeah but there is no rush. We can make this a long engagement and do it when we're ready. And we are almost 50 so no huge wedding. Something small. If that's okay with you."

"Yeah that is perfect! Just close friends and some family, that's all we need."

"Agreed." Barney said as he sat back down at his seat. They finally took a sip of their champagne. They sat silent for a little just taking in the breathtaking moment. The music in the background, the soft sound of waves crashing on the shore, the smell of fresh beach air, and the palpable feeling of unconditional love that was drifting through the air. It was perfect. Barney stood back up and walked over to Robin, putting his hand out. "May I have this dance?" Robin took his hand and joined him in front of the musicians, where they slowly began to dance to the music. Barney leaned down to kiss Robin. This moment here, for the both of them, was perfect. They stayed like this in silence for a while, until the silence was broken.

"Barney can I ask you something?"

"Yeah baby of course."

"Well, something has kind of been bothering me all day, something you said earlier."

"What is it?" Barney said starting to get worried.

"Its about Angie."

"Oh, Robin I thought I said to just drop it. There is nothing to talk about with her." Barney said, trying to change the conversation.

"Obviously there is or else you wouldn't be trying to avoid the topic. Come on Barney, I am going to be your wife again, we need to be able to communicate with each other."

Barney let out a deep sigh, "Okay fine. What do you want to know?"

"Everything. How you meet, what she was like, you know, just everything."

"Okay, well, Angie was a good friend of Hannah's. Hannah is Ellie's mom. When Ellie was first born I spent a lot of time with Hannah. We tried to make things work between us but it was never going to happen. She hated my guts. Because of this, Angie hated my guts. We were nothing alike and we were always fighting with each other and Hannah just sat back and let it happen. Anyway, about a year after Ellie was born Angie started to notice that Hannah was acting weird. She just wasn't herself. She started drinking and doing drugs. She was not fit to be a mother. Angie came to me to let me know about this. Even though we didn't agree on anything there was still one thing we both cared about more than anything and that was Ellie. So Angie was looking out for Ellie by telling me what was going on with Hannah. Once I saw firsthand what Hannah was turning into I filed for full custody of Ellie, with Angie's help. This, of course got Hannah really mad. Hannah got really high one night and went over to Angie's place. Angie let her in and Hannah just started wailing on her. Beat her up pretty bad. Hannah got arrested and this proved to the courts that she was not able to raise Ellie. After a lot of court dates and paperwork I finally got Ellie to myself when she was around 2 years old. After all of the craziness of the trials Angie helped me a lot with Ellie. She was around all of the time so it just kind of happened. We started dating and it worked for a while. We were happy and she was so good with Ellie. Not too much bothered her but for some reason she was bothered by you. She never met you obviously but it bothered her that I had been married before and that I still had our old pictures in my apartment and stuff. I explained to her that I wasn't getting rid of it, that before we were married we were friends and even after we divorced we never really stopped being friends. I guess she had a right to let this bother her but I wasn't going to just forget about you. One night, the gang was supposed to get back together, and you were going to be there. It was about a year and a half ago. I told Angie this and she flipped. She told me that if I went to hang out with all of you, more specifically you, then it was over between us. Basically she made me choose, and I chose to hangout with you and the gang. Later that night we got into a huge fight. She pretty much trashed my apartment and wouldn't stop screaming. She threw a glass bowl at me, which cut my arm. She felt bad so she came up and tried to apologize, saying she forgave me for going out and she just wanted to forget about it. Can you believe that? She forgave me, like I did something wrong. Meanwhile she cut my arm open with a glass bowl. Anyway that's when I saw Ellie waddle out of her room. Turns out she was awake playing with her toys. That's when I realized that I couldn't have Angie around Ellie. I told her to leave, she resisted at first but ultimately she left. I haven't seen her since, except for when she came by to pick up her stuff but that was it. That's Angie." Barney said as Robin soaked it all in. There was a long silence before Robin responded.

"So I broke you two up?" Robin asked, her voice shaky.

"What? No, she broke us up with the way she acted. She was crazy."

"Yeah but she wouldn't have acted like that if you hadn't of chose me over her."

"It would have came out eventually, you were just the catalyst that's all."

"Oh my god Barney, why did you do that. Why did you let me get in the way of your relationship?" Robin asked, somewhat angrily but also kind of flattered.

"Because you were and always will be far more important to me than her. She couldn't make me choose, it wasn't even a choice. A would have picked you a million times over. I don't regret it for a second." Barney said, his voice growing a little louder to make a point. Robin didn't know what to say, so she didn't say anything. Instead she gave Barney a small smile, tears in her eyes, and laid her head on his chest as the two of them continued to dance, just happy to be in each other's arms.


	23. Chapter 23

**Hello everybody! I know it has been awhile since the last update but I have been majorly busy with school! This is a little short but hopefully it will do! Thank you all for your continued support! I will try to have another one up soon but I cannot promise anything. Enjoy!**

Ch. 23

Barney and Robin made their way back to their hotel room after the night of excitement. It was just the two of them since Ellie was staying with Lily and Marshall. Barney had agreed with Lily that he would come get her at midnight and right now it was 11:00, so he and Robin had one more hour alone before the night was over. They planned to make the most of it. As soon as they got in the hotel they wasted no time. Barney had planned on setting up candles and scattering rose petals around the bathroom so he and Robin could enjoy each other in the Jacuzzi Tub but he didn't want to wait for that. Instead, as they walked in, he swept Robin off of her feet and headed to the bed. Barney gently placed Robin down on the bed. He then climbed onto the bed so that he was hovering over Robin. He leaned down and kissed her, making sure to let her know that he loved her more than anything.

"Robin I love you." Barney whispered as he leaned down to kiss Robin. She didn't get a chance to say it back before his lips were on hers, so she decided to show him through the kiss. She pulled his tie, begging him to get closer to her, until there was no distance between them at all. Robin began to loosen Barney's tie as his hand found the hem of her shirt. In a matter of seconds, both Barney and Robin were stripped down to nothing.

Robin and Barney quickly fell into a groove that brought them back to how times used to be between them, when they would jump each other's bones multiple times a day just because. A lot has changed since then but as soon as they started to make love they realized that nothing had changed, at least not between them. They still loved each other more than anything and were willing to put each other first in every situation. They realized their relationship was a lot like riding a bike. No matter how long you walk away from it, when you return nothing has changed. So as Barney and Robin made love that night they realized there was no use in walking away anymore. They were always going to find a way back to each other.

Barney and Robin were content. They had just had the best night of their lives and now they were perfectly happy just lying in each other's arms. They were trying to enjoy every moment of it before they had to get dressed and pick up Ellie from Lily and Marshall.

"You know, as amazing as that was I had to try hard not to laugh every time I looked up and saw your braids." Robin said with a giggle.

"Don't act like you're bothered by them. You and I both know that my braids are what turned you on so much in the first place." Barney replied with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

"Okay you got me, male braids really do it for me." Robin said with a smile as she pulled Barney in for another kiss.

Barney reluctantly pulled away. "As much as I want this to continue, I need to go get Ellie." Barney said, looking at the clock realizing it was midnight.

"Just let Lily keep her for the night." Robin said with a whine.

"I can't do that, there is barely enough room for her three kids to sleep to begin with, plus every time Ellie wakes up and I am not there she freaks the fuck out. I don't want to have her freaking out tomorrow morning." Barney said in a voice that let Robin know he was sorry. "You just stay right here. I'll be right back." Barney said as he pulled on a pair of pajama pants and walked out the door. He knocked on Lily and Marshall's door. A few seconds later Lily answered the door with Ellie not far behind.

"Daddy!" Ellie yelled as she ran up to Barney.

"Hey baby. How was your night with Aunt Lily and Uncle Marshall?"

"Fun, we went to the arcade daddy. We play games and got ice cream!" Ellie said with excitement.

"Awesome baby!" Barney turned from Ellie to Lily, "Thank you so much for watching her. I appreciate it. Hopefully she was good for you."

"She was amazing. Anytime you need anybody to watch her you just let me know, I've been telling you that for four years now." Lily said with a smile. "And I hope your night was as good as ours. Did you and Robin have 'fun' tonight?" Lily asked, putting air quotes around the word fun.

"Yeah we did!" Barney said in a giddy tone. "Multiple times, if you know what I mean."

"Okay, to much information. But I'm happy for you guys. Now its time for bed though, I'll see you tomorrow okay Barney." Lily said as she hugged Barney. "And goodnight to you too Ellie. I'll see you tomorrow." Lily said rubbing Ellie's head.

"What do you say Ellie?" Barney said.

"Thank you Aunt Lily." Ellie said hugging Lily.

"You're very welcome sweetie."

Barney picked up Ellie and went back across the hall to their room. When he walked in he found a sleeping Robin. She looked so peaceful. He made sure to tell Ellie to be quite as to not wake up Robin. Barney got Ellie changed and put her to bed before climbing into bed with Robin. He tried to minimize his movement so he didn't wake her up. As he lay there he turned and looked at Robin, he reached out and gently brushed the hair off of her face. She slowly opened her eyes and smiled at Barney, who smiled back.

"Hi." Robin said in a whisper.

"I didn't mean to wake you. Go back to sleep." Barney said as he leaned down and kissed Robin's forehead. Robin closed her eyes and immediately fell back asleep. Barney smiled to himself as he looked at the woman he loved, relishing in the fact that she would soon be his forever. He would do it right this time. There was no way she was getting away. He loved her too much for that, and he knew damn well that she loved him too.


End file.
